343 Industries

343 Industries
Company typeDivision
IndustryVideo games
Founded2007; 19 years ago (2007)
FounderBonnie Ross
Headquarters
Redmond, Washington
,
US
Key people
Pierre Hintze (studio head)
ProductsHalo series
ParentXbox Game Studios
Website343industries.com

343 Industries is a video game developer owned by the American technology company Microsoft, and is located in Redmond, Washington. They are responsible for the Halo video game franchise after taking over from Bungie Studios.

Formation

Bungie was a video game developer working on their next project when Microsoft bought them in 2000. Halo: Combat Evolved, the game they were working on, turned into a launch title for Microsoft's Xbox console. Bungie and Microsoft never fit together very well. After the release of Halo 2, Bungie started trying to get better profit sharing for their next game, Halo 3. These discussions led to Bungie becoming independent from Microsoft in 2007. While Bungie was still had a contract to make new Halo games, Microsoft owned the franchise. Xbox general manager Bonnie Ross said that her coworkers thought Halo was a dying franchise and looked at contracting an outside company to make new games.: 21:45–23:00  Ross really liked the series, and she wanted a different approach.: 26:15–27:05  Ross' pitch convinced Microsoft Game Studios general manager Shane Kim, and she was put in charge of a new internal Halo studio, 343 Industries. The studio was named after the Halo character 343 Guilty Spark.

343 Industries started with roughly a dozen workers in late 2007.: 28:22  Bungie employee Frank O'Connor helped with the transition. He quit Bungie to serve as 343 Industries' franchise director. During the transition, 343 Industries worked with the company Starlight Runner to interview Bungie employees and put together a central story for the franchise. 343 Industries also worked with Bungie on their last Halo projects, Halo 3: ODST (2009) and Reach (2010).: 30:50  art director Kiki Wolfkill, who joined the team as a studio head. During the transition, 343 Industries worked with the company Starlight Runner to interview Bungie staff and compile a centralized story bible for the universe. 343 Industries also worked with Bungie on their last Halo projects, Halo 3: ODST (2009) and Reach (2010).: 30:50 

Games

Year Game Platform(s) Notes
2011 Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary Xbox 360 Collaboration with Saber Interactive
2012 Halo 4 Collaboration with Certain Affinity
2013 Halo: Spartan Assault iOS, Microsoft Windows, Windows Phone, Xbox 360, Xbox One Collaboration with Vanguard Games
2014 Halo: The Master Chief Collection Xbox One, Microsoft Windows, Xbox Series X/S Includes Halo: Reach, Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, Halo 2 Anniversary, Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST and Halo 4
2015 Halo: Spartan Strike iOS, Microsoft Windows, Windows Phone Collaboration with Vanguard Games
2015 Halo 5: Guardians Xbox One Halo 5: Forge was released on Microsoft Windows
2016 Halo Wars: Definitive Edition Microsoft Windows, Xbox One Collaboration with Behaviour Interactive
2017 Halo Wars 2 Collaboration with Creative Assembly
Halo Recruit Microsoft Windows Collaboration with Endeavor One
2018 Halo: Fireteam Raven Arcade Cabinet Collaboration with Play Mechanix and Endeavor One
2021 Halo Infinite Microsoft Windows, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S Collaboration with SkyBox Labs, Sperasoft, The Coalition and Certain Affinity

References

  1. 1 2 3 Haske, Steven (May 30, 2017). "The Complete, Untold History of Halo". Vice. Vice Media. Archived from the original on March 15, 2018. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
  2. ↑ "Why the makers of Halo are splitting from Microsoft". Fortune. Archived from the original on April 19, 2021. Retrieved April 19, 2021.
  3. 1 2 Milian, Mark (May 11, 2011). "Halo' and creators move on after divorce". CNN. Archived from the original on January 8, 2014. Retrieved January 5, 2013.
  4. ↑ Romano, Benjamin (October 6, 2007). "Microsoft, "Halo" maker Bungie split". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on October 18, 2012. Retrieved January 6, 2013.
  5. 1 2 Brustein, Joshua (October 22, 2015). "Can the Woman Behind Halo 5 Save the Xbox?". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on October 23, 2015. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 McCaffrey, Ryan (February 26, 2019). "How Bonnie Ross Is Shaping the Future of Halo - IGN Unfiltered #39". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on April 12, 2021. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
  7. ↑ Marie, Meagan (December 4, 2018). "Bonnie Ross". Women in Gaming: 100 Professionals of Play. Prima Games. pp. 94–95. ISBN 978-0-744-01993-3.
  8. ↑ Smith, Edward (2016). "Studio Profile: 343 Industries". Edge. No. 300. Future Publishing. pp. 94–97.
  9. ↑ Thorsen, Tor (July 20, 2009). "Microsoft names internal Halo label?". Archived from the original on October 3, 2013. Retrieved January 6, 2013.
  10. ↑ Vore, Bryan (November 2011). "Taking Over 'Halo'". Game Informer. Vol. 11, no. 223. pp. 28–33. ISSN 1067-6392.
  11. 1 2 Smith, Kevin (December 5, 2011). "Talking with the man who assembled the 'Halo Bible' for Microsoft". Official Xbox Magazine. Archived from the original on February 11, 2012.
  12. 1 2 "Halo: Reach Will Be Bungie's Last Halo Game". IGN. April 29, 2010. Archived from the original on November 6, 2012. Retrieved March 19, 2011.
  13. ↑ "Microsoft leaks details about next Halo game". VentureBeat. June 6, 2011. Archived from the original on June 8, 2011. Retrieved August 6, 2012.
  14. ↑ "Microsoft E3 landing page leaks Kinect upgrades, Halo 4 news". Digital Trends. June 6, 2011. Archived from the original on June 9, 2011. Retrieved August 6, 2012.
  15. ↑ "Halo: Spartan Assault Halo Official Site". Archived from the original on June 8, 2013. Retrieved June 9, 2013.
  16. ↑ "Halo the Master Chief Collection". June 9, 2014. Archived from the original on June 10, 2014. Retrieved June 10, 2014.
  17. ↑ "Halo: Spartan Strike Comes to Microsoft Windows Devices and Steam this December". Xbox Wire. Microsoft. October 16, 2014. Archived from the original on October 18, 2014. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  18. ↑ "The Halo Journey". May 16, 2014. Archived from the original on May 16, 2014. Retrieved May 16, 2014.
  19. ↑ "Halo 6 Already In the Works". CINEMABLEND. September 27, 2015. Archived from the original on May 20, 2017. Retrieved May 24, 2017.
  20. ↑ Makuch, Eddie (2018-07-27). "Halo Infinite Adds A Co-Developer". GameSpot. Archived from the original on July 27, 2018. Retrieved 2018-07-27.
  21. ↑ "Sperasoft Collaborates with 343 Industries on Halo Infinite Development". Sperasoft. 2020-08-04. Archived from the original on August 9, 2020. Retrieved 2020-08-26.
  22. ↑ "Halo Infinite Received Help From Gears Studio, The Coalition". Game Informer. 2021-02-24. Archived from the original on February 25, 2021. Retrieved 2021-02-25.
  23. ↑ "Certain Affinity Reveals Ongoing Partnership with 343 Industries on Halo Infinite". Certain Affinity. 2020-08-26. Archived from the original on August 27, 2020. Retrieved 2020-08-26.