The Absolute Chaos of Halo Infinite

[@bigbosstube]

Follow my link at tanks.ly/44NaWq9 and new players will receive 250,000 credits, 7 days of world of tanks premium access, 250K credits, the Cromwell B, and for 10 battles each the tanks: Tiger 131, T-78, Type 64.

[@C.A._Old]

*Never Trust 343. Always Trust 2001-2010 Bungie.*

[@C.A._Old]

*Halo 3 & Reach Better Than Halo Infinite.*

[@C.A._Old]

*Do you believe in the Propaganda of the Demons of Today? Or is it true legendary nostalgia of the classic oldies? the choice is yours.*

[@C.A._Old]

3:07 Crowbcat Legendary Video: Remember Halo.

[@Andrew-l4o1f]

I used it. Thanks.

[@Badmunky64]

As a helpdesk tech, that bit about them only using contractors to make the engine suddenly makes a lot of sense. That absolutely killed them long-term

[@chisha8415]

I'm a website developer and fully understand how this could have crippled 343. They had no idea what they were doing once those contractors left. Downloading the banner image millions of times on the loading screen?? My goodness what a mess

[@kennypowers1945]

What does that have to with being a help desk tech lol

[@deidryt9944]

343 knew what Microsoft's policy was. Hell, they were born out of Microsoft. This is entirely a 343 problem for not planning their only product properly. They had ONE JOB and they screwed it from the get-go.

[@joepenner9039]

@@kennypowers1945He’s relating his experience of being a contractor to let us know that when you’re a contractor you won’t produce the same “labour of love” type work that a permanent, diligent worker would.

[@buszi_]

as always it is a management false where you tell them it is a bad idea but they simply don't care, because their spreadsheet says something else I'm working as a developer and most of projects fail because of delusional management that do not listen to more experienced people, and also huge budget cuts in places where there should be no budget cuts (mostly the QA part)

[@macisr]

So 343's biggest sin and mistake was outsourcing everything instead of having an actual culture and personality. That explains a lot.

[@nagger8216]

It's okay, the culture and personality they had before Infinite was one of extreme smugness, condescension and generally just douchebag-esque, so nothing of value was lost there

[@bobdylan1968]

Lmfao the absolute delusion of you absolute basement dwellers in the halo community, has become beyond pathetic. Halo infinite, is the best halo has ever been. Period. It's got the best gameplay. The characters are outright superior. Their story telling is better. Their gunplay is better. Their sandbox is superior. Halo infinite has the most maps in the entire series. The most modes. The best forge.

[@spookyperson7096]

@@nagger8216 I don't think that's what the "culture" he was referring to.

[@liquidsweg4858]

It's amazing that a bunch of contractors made a better halo than 343 tho

[@mitchconner2021]

Blame Microsoft.. It's them who make devs hire contractors cuz they don't wanna hire full time employees.

[@salkhandi1628]

"343 is now looking three-for-three" was such an excellent line.

[@The_whales]

Ha, “3 4 3”

[@Flavalicious]

Ultimately Microsofts fault. HOW the same management survived 2 failed flagship titles in a row and was allowed a 3rd attempt is beyond the understanding of logical humans everywhere 😂

[@ralphwarom2514]

CO OP with a friend was the true heart of halo. And it was axed. That was truly sad. Was planning on getting Halo 4 to 6 in one go. But oh well. Halo 3 was truly the end. And I am willing to accept that.

[@Fyre0]

@@praetorian3902 "343" sounds the same as "3 for 3" which is way of saying they have *missed* 3 shots out of 3 shots they've taken.

[@LethalByChoice]

Absolute stellar irony that fits so well with what's been happening.

[@IrisCorven]

I still love that 343 laughed devs out of the office who tried pitching an ODST game where you fight cooperatively against AI in a mission-to-mission based game type. ... Only for Helldivers 2 to launch with resounding success.

[@agent5333]

Thise devs probably are having a huge “I FUCKING TOLD YOU” moment.

[@SunnieJim007]

wasnt 343 who laughed them, it was microsoft

[@SunnieJim007]

343 was onboard and was denied

[@ThisHandleSystemCanGetNicked]

Microsoft is as much of a cancer to Halo as old 343. I say that as if the new leadership will be any better, but I'm trying to not jump the gun.

[@cadmanfox]

That would be so cool

[@calebs4755]

the fact that they lost so much money trying to save money is just hilarious

[@JHS270694]

That's short termism for you. Management at so many gaming studios suck so much ass it's just becoming ridiculous now. Cyberpunk was another victim, as was Mass Effect Andromeda. God knows what the next Dragon Age will be like. I'm so desperate to wanting Starfield to be good too, hoping Microsoft has learned some lessons on cheapening out games development and left Bethesda be without too much interference. Pencil pushers have no idea how game development works and are simply crunching numbers to save as much money as they can _now_ rather than spend a little bit more for that bigger payoff. They treat this industry like the fast food one, and it shows. Larian Studios's Baldurs Gate 3 is what happens when the devs are actually in charge of everything. I hope they resist the temptation to sell themselves out to whatever games publishers coz they all suck. End rant.

[@Kurt0v]

tech debt

[@necro4258]

No, no you see-- it did save money over the short term period that whoever was making the decision was working there. They then leave the company saying "I was able to save X dollars through prudent management methodologies at X." and go do the same thing for a couple years somewhere else.

[@ZAINILEXTHE1ANDONLY]

@@necro4258 jesus christ

[@DP12321]

Short sighted company. Always screwing things up. They're disorganized and bloated. They are never innovative, always reactive... and that's why they always fail. I wish they never bought Rare.

[@nsiev7043]

For everyone saying that Bungie should get the game back, they clearly haven’t been paying attention to what Bungie is doing with Destiny 2.

[@zaste8361]

Factual statement lol

[@freddman2355]

@@TheosakeTechnically its his sister and the new DLC that is Lightfall is hilariously bad but the seasonal content is somewhat better than the DLC itself, there ya go

[@Griff589]

@@TheosakeI played it for the first time in over a year earlier today and I’ll be honest, it’s pretty samey this far, but I wasn’t around during taken kind so I don’t really know just how much has been added and such, but right now it’s not looking pretty im just staying around till the final shake just for the story even though it’s been mid at best even though I doubt that will change

[@cwj2733]

@@Theosakewitch queen campaign was phenomenal, but lightfall this year is complete ass.

[@Wywern291]

I play destiny 2 and this is very much the case.

[@MrPloopy83]

I mean, what did you guys expect when a studio names themselves as the AI betraying you all along the saga ??

[@wlot28]

Bruh exactly, who thought 343 was a good title for the studio lmao these guys never understood Halo from the very beginning

[@hanslanda8303]

@@wlot28should’ve called themselves the gravemind ffs

[@skepticalmagos_101]

The schizo rampant AI? It fits... 😂

[@senabecool7232]

@@hanslanda8303or The Covenant

[@thefactory7221]

(prophet of) Regret Industries

[@jonny-b4954]

Wait... they built an engine with temp employees? Jesus dude. Just incompetence

[@agentwash1]

What got me was that they nailed the gameplay, the hard part, and threw the easy stuff off the cliff. I'm astounded MS let their flagship game be fumbled so hard

[@echomjp]

I'm not honestly sure that you can argue the gameplay is the hard part. The gameplay they had countless previous titles and a known working formula to work off of. It would have taken extreme incompetence to mess that up. But making a story and campaign that feels well-written or impactful in any way? That sort of thing is harder. Most of their flaws though seem to be on the business side of things. They basically removed features Halo is known for - not even implementing basic campaign co-op at launch (despite that being in since the very first Halo) - yet still apparently had the budget and time to add live service features that nobody asked for except their corporate overlords.

[@Dillman502]

@echomjp Yeah I've always felt like the "great gameplay" everybody praises are just those aspects that every Halo game has had, and have been done better in the past. Hundreds of people can parrot "great gameplay no content", but they'll rarely mention specifics.

[@DonovanGG__]

@@Dillman502nah halo infinite’s gameplay is the best halo gameplay wise hands down. No debate to be had.

[@WonderMePartyStrip]

​@@DonovanGG__"best gameplay" 😂😂😂

[@DonovanGG__]

@@WonderMePartyStrip 👨🏿‍🌾

[@StoreyofGee]

Such a shame. Those of us who lived through Halo 1, 2, and 3 are lucky. Who would’ve thought that those experiences could never be recreated again at launch

[@miguelaguilar751]

I mean after a whole trilogy ppl don't generally expect to see another 15 years of sequels. Especially since the trilogy was p complete on its own. I remember when reach came out ppl were on the fence as to whether the prequel was warranted.

[@dingus6317]

Halo 3 was my first real video game. I had grown up playing Sonic, Mario, Smash Bros, Wii Sports, etc, but when I went to my aunt's house and played Halo 3 on my uncle's Xbox at around 7 years old, I was hooked. My parents had to pry me from the controller to get me home that night, and for a few years I begged my parents to get me an Xbox. Fortunately for me I got one for my ninth birthday, whereupon I invited a friend over from 3rd grade and we drank soda, ate chips, and farted around on the same map in a custom lobby for nearly 9 hours straight. Games just don't feel the same anymore. I often wonder if it's the games or me that have changed.

[@ikpjosh4848]

You forgot halo 3: ODST and halo reach

[@zachrohler1047]

Who would think something so simple as fucking blue would be 20 dollars and locked to a single core.

[@zachrohler1047]

​@@dingus6317both. Weve all gotten older so we have much more to compare it to, aswell as gaming just not being the same. To expensive, to sweaty, boring maps and repetitive gameplay.

[@TheTrueRandomGamer]

The sequel we all needed. I'm sure the next 10 years will be different.

[@MattPapp]

I genuinely want everyone at 343 studios to meet the leshen on your profile picture in real life during a night walk in the woods

[@spenjay5435]

❤❤

[@spenjay5435]

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@l.m.l8598]

@@MattPappmost staff at 343 quit and some of the only people working on infinite are freelancers, everybody jumped ship once it released

[@gregviews]

​@@l.m.l8598for the past 6 months we've gotten a decent staff that provided alot of needed content, if they add a pre game lobby with firefight hall infinite will literally be better than most games today

[@Imsoconfusedthesedays]

When the writers of the halo tv show came out and said they never played the games, I knew it would be bad. All they had to do was follow the already written story from the games and it would’ve been huge. But I digress

[@darthgamer9861]

Or hell, adapt Fall of Reach

[@ThisHandleIsTakenTryThis]

@@darthgamer9861a fall of reach tv show would be insane

[@thequietstag4366]

​@@darthgamer9861Pretty sure they made a movie about that

[@theALTF4]

modern writters, basically... and they had the CYNICISM of protesting bc lack of payment a few months ago... i can't eblieve this epdantic generalized attitude of writers and directors to be just as garbage as the producers and corporations they work for SMH 😠

[@robertharris6092]

​@@theALTF4 hollywoods unwillingness to pay writers what theyre worth is the reason they keep hieing hacks that dont care aboit the source material.

[@Slender_Man_186]

The most anger inducing part of all of this is how they used Staten, they only brought him on as a publicity stunt, he never had any involvement with Infinite’s story (despite how he wrote CE, 2, 3, and Contact Harvest), and they only dragged him out to deliver the bad news.

[@insidious8054]

Wait did he say this?

[@user-mg7wh8zq6v]

how do u know that?

[@haileybennett4006]

Completely talking out of your ass.

[@acat6145]

Sauce?

[@CrunchyKieran15]

I thought he contributed to basically rewriting and salvaging infinites story after they delayed it again, that’s why it’s so choppy hit somewhat halo, he did his best

[@damocles7406]

The fact Corpos cannot understand that murdering your game dev team is a Bad Idea astounds me every time it happens. Who would have thought expertise would be useful? Or actually having people who understand what's going on...

[@CodexQuinn]

Hey choom, gotta support that games as a service idea! How else are we supposed to pump money into them in the hopes they make a good game?

[@benh6379]

But who else will think of the shareholders :(

[@Vanished584]

Its amazing that they just hired contractors to build them an Engine. So>... Before, during and after building the engine and not a single person knows how to use it.

[@dantethewanderer4989]

​@@Vanished584Yeah that's one of the biggest head scratchers for me. If you're going to hire contractors for such a big project why the fuck would you have them do one of the most important things instead of just the grunt work? Especially when they had a revolving door of contractors all doing patchwork on it. That's main team shit; you leave the contractors to either ASSIST with that in terms of helping fine-tune it or just leave them to more general stuff so your main team doesn't have to near abandon the thing you've wasted four years and a decent bit of money on. It's so unbelievably short-sighted and smooth-brained that you'd think someone from a rival company snuck in and switched which teams did what, with no one bothering to ask which dumbass was responsible for it.

[@padnomnidprenon9672]

They don't consider the work. Imagine firing a Nasa team of engineers or doing that in any (serious) industry ? Anyone with the skills can do a game, but it takes a miracle to make the best. They don't understand that

[@thataintfalco7106]

The worst thing is that they obviously used their employees to say the things they didn’t put in as a shield to make them the target of fanbase outrage.

[@theholygamer969]

Oh, yeah, that happened with Takashi Iizuka over at SEGA and Sonic Team.

[@navb0tactual]

Yeah that's dev taking about how "halo's always been a competitive game at its core starting all the way back from the first game" was talking wayyy too "hip cool corporate" for that to actually be his belief... Yeah people wanted that poor guy to be fired, I am of the belief that's what someone above wanted him to say...

[@SundreeOFFICIAL]

@@navb0tactual Nah I actually believe that Sean Barron believes that

[@campber9908]

Unfortunately they’re not the only big organisation to do that. :(

[@The_whales]

12:04 “kinda corny right”

[@TheAkustikus]

Fun Fact regarding the 3 Piano Notes: Marty O'Donell said in an interview he showed the piano theme from Halo 3 to the MS execs and they hated it.... and wanted it changed.... tells you everything what to expect from MS Corpo

[@deitchj003]

Cooperate

[@augustday9483]

Marty is the GOAT.

[@Voidturne]

Marty o Donnel is a dumbass

[@GrayD_Fox]

They hate everything, even money

[@G360LIVE]

Watch a video called "Gears of War: The Race to E3". Microsoft wanted Cliffy B to remove the chainsaw gun from the game, and that turned out to be the weapon that people enjoy using the most.

[@TJ-bk9vf]

20:32 glad I paused and read the challenges. “Get 50 betrayals in a single match without getting kicked” has me dying over here.

[@NKWittmann]

Lol WTF Did they intend to turn the entire playerbase into the most absolute dogshit toxic players in the universe ? 😅

[@normanmai7865]

@@NKWittmann it's not real :( i checked

[@Pengulin]

@@NKWittmann even though the screenshot was fake. it absolutely made people worse at the game, hunting missions instead of fulfilling the match objective. glad they changed it though, feels like my teamates are actually doing the objective now lol

[@BitsofJoshua]

@@NKWittmann Obvious joke, buddy :)

[@Thomas-fb5tf]

hahaha I didn't see that but this video has a lot of funny easter eggs like that. i rarely laugh or even finish videos on youtube. this was well done.

[@josephdifiore8471]

Notice that the Micro-transaction store in games like this always works perfectly on launch day, is easy to understand, navigate and use, never crashes, lags or disconnects, and gets frequent updates to keep it appealing. Thanks for the video.

[@Blonder_Studio]

its not that the store itself works perfectly, its the part where you pay the money that works perfectly, the part where you get your items... maybe... maybe not

[@bobtom1495]

In otherwords, they put more effort into the store than the actual game. "The comestics don't affect the gameplay" my A$$....

[@TITTYtoucher2000]

Just like ads on youtube running better than videos

[@looinrims]

Fallout 76: ‘we’re the exception!’

[@TRG_R17]

Reply 5, unless you're Fortnite

[@ElWrighto]

Halo Reach had the perfect progression, you could level up and unlock gear playing campaign and firefight offline, you could compare service record and gear with anyone, such good memories.

[@Glorfindel_117]

Reaches progression was AMAZING because ANYTHING you did gave you money. I would sit on my couch grinding 10 minute forge games where I just place as many blocks as possible and then quit because it gave more credits than the average 15 minute Slayer match did for a good long while. You could play custom games purely offline with local splitscreen and everyone would gain credits on their accounts. It really was THE best progression system we have ever seen in the gaming industry. Full stop. Bar none.

[@henjem14]

Reach was the peak halo for me, obviously its standing on the shoulders of giants, but reach felt like an actual evolution of the halo universe, the story, the art style, it was all actual refinement of the universe.

[@VikingKong.]

Yeah the best progression system of all time in any game ever - for people who are satisfied with meaningless cosmetics.

[@henjem14]

@@VikingKong. they arent meaningless to most, it paves freedom of expression and personalisation which for for most is a mechanic that keeps people playing the game

[@Knuspermonster]

​@@VikingKong.buddy havin my OWN spartan be in campaign was cool af

[@nsahandler]

"We are going to save money by hiring temp contractors, which increases development time and ups cost" is possibly the most Microsoft thing that 343 could have done

[@alaskanyeti907]

They'll be doing case studies on how badly 343i fumbled the Halo property in the future. Bungie handed them the golden Lamborghini and they crashed it

[@yahimtess8649]

They didn’t even crash it they just shredded it

[@Fuzzycatfur]

They glassed it.

[@kylegray1060]

Just like Disney with star wars

[@mikeybyrne9279]

Converted the golden lambo into a Honda Civic that occasionally goes above 40 mph

[@postbloom9767]

@@AmazedBunion so disappointing to hear

[@redrum6430]

It’s honestly unbelievable how hard 343 fumbled Infinite when it had SOOO much hype

[@gunmetalgrey7103]

The main issue seemed like microsoft fumbling it with hiring contractors, and whoever decided any cosmetic option should cost money

[@bldontmatter5319]

@@gunmetalgrey7103 and ya know, garbage gameplay, horrible optimization, basic features not working or even being present. Ya know. Just basic issues.

[@peterlustig7531]

@@bldontmatter5319Video says gameplay is solid. What is it, bad or good?

[@thisplatformsucks]

​@@bldontmatter5319Garbage gameplay is one issue Infinite didn't have. The problem was there wasn't enough game to play IN. That and the bugs.

[@andreivaldez2929]

ADS, sprint, mantling, and sliding just doesn't belong. It's a point of contention but you see a lot of OG fans don't like it; new fans enjoyed the additions. Don't know if that answers your question but it really depends on who you ask.

[@wlot28]

The fact that they signed off on the TV show tells you everything you need to know about how badly this franchise has been managed since Bungie

[@TheMADmk]

1 word - Microsoft

[@_holy__ghost]

​@@TheMADmkand people somehow still think microsoft will fix actiblizz if they manage to acquire it

[@343Films]

@@TheMADmk Sure, its on Microsoft when 343 is given $500+ million to make Halo content and fails to reach even the base level of content present at launch back in 2007. And don't forget that the TV show is Kiki Wolfkill's baby - 343 literally had full creative control over the series and look what they gave us!

[@lifeguardpanda]

​@@TheMADmkThe problem is more Microsoft's hands off nature. It used to be Microsoft was to micromanaging but then fans complained, so they bought Mojang and completely left the Game Division on their own. A new CEO comes in and doesn't understand anything about gaming because he's a cloud guy but acquisitions make sense. So slowly Microsoft buys a company and then another. And here we are. It's been proven that Microsoft can manage a game studio good, look at Playground Games, Double Fine and Mojang. The problem relies in the fact that Microsoft left them be and they ran perfectly. When you look at Undead Labs though, they needed help and they didn't get it. To quote one anonymous employee of undead labs, when Microsoft bought us we were afraid that they would change our culture and suffocate us, instead we did that to ourselves.

[@wlot28]

@@lifeguardpanda That's phil spencer's Xbox, let studios run themselves instead of trying to right the ship, but that's left their studios to create absolute garbage like arkane with redfall and 343 with infinite having no direction or coherent strategy across their platform. He needs to step in when studios are clearly struggling and restructure their management while leaving the functioning ones alone, otherwise dumpster fires will continue to be developed with no oversight. 343 needs to be cleaned out entirely, or just give the Halo license to more than one studio so Halo fans don't have to keep suffering through 343's terrible decisions and lack of understanding or passion about what actually makes Halo good. Until then this franchise will never see another inch of its past glory again

[@anthonyvenuto9846]

And here we are now, 343 is done with infinite lol

[@radski_fives]

I still can't believe how dirty Microsoft did my boy Joseph Staten. Shifting him onto the 343 team, just to be the bearer of so much bad news like a sacrificial lamb. Can hardly blame him for leaving Microsoft entirely.

[@512TheWolf512]

Hey at least the public doesn't shit on him after all said and done

[@charlescabbage2933]

Well if it wasn't for him.. the game wouldn't have recovered in the last year.. His position in Halo infinite was always temporary from the start.. And now his job is done.. can go back to his old position in Microsoft studio

[@MillionaireHoyOriginal]

​@@charlescabbage2933He's no longer with Microsoft, I think as far back as April.

[@nagger8216]

​​@@512TheWolf512I think it was disgustingly obvious to everyone involved, from the people at 343 recording those videos to the people watching them, what was really going on and I don't think there's anybody out there that doesn't feel sorry for Joe having to put up with that bullshit. It actually pisses me off seeing the fanboys constantly make excuses for this company and go on about how "they're just people too! 😢" when this is the company we're talking about. Fuck these people and fuck this disgusting, manipulative studio

[@godsendmetopissyouoff7834]

So

[@Verminator4]

Seeing the sentiment on this game going from “it’s so over” to “we’re so fucking back” on release back to “it’s so fucking over” in the ensuing months was a roller coaster ride. 343 just can’t help themselves when it comes to dropping the ball

[@speedforce8970]

The fact that BF2042 launched broken af and still has more players than Halo Infinite goes to show how badly they dropped the ball.

[@FutaCatto2]

Halo died with Reach. 343's Halo is not Halo.

[@Zacvh1]

@@FutaCatto2fr they made a cod game then a titan fall game and now they made fortnite and it didn’t go well for them so hopefully the next halo game is actually a halo game

[@xninewxw7559]

@@Zacvh1how is halo infinite fortnite my brother

[@Zacvh1]

@@xninewxw7559 they literally removed color selection to be able to resell them as skins like in fortnite they have the item shop and battle pass

[@gubzs]

The lesson to learn from Halo is this: A franchise is the sum of the people that made it great. If you replace the people, you're making a different game.

[@lorenzooliveira1157]

Especially if you replace the people MAKING THE GAME ENGINE every couple of months(contractors)

[@Kevin5279]

​@@lorenzooliveira1157😂😂😂 couldn't have nailed it better

[@DisDatK9]

Also great proof that corporatizing artistic expression literally takes the soul out of it. The franchises life is a fantastic representation of what has happened to AAA gaming over the last 2 decades.

[@oasis7456]

So, the same logic as the terminator or star wars films

[@D64nz]

It's the ship of Theseus paradox in effect.

[@fishbellyman]

"We hired people who hated Halo..." ----An actual quote from 343

[@MisterFishChannel]

I think your talking it out of context

[@Boomer04888]

@@MisterFishChannel I assume when he said that, he meant to convey that fresh and new creative minds were going to be contributing to an IP to avoid stagnation which is fine, but regardless it was an incredibly tone-deaf and foolish way to phrase it. Not to mention, allowing too many newcomers that much power over an insanely beloved IP is bound to result in a dumpster fire.

[@MindlessMagic]

Source?

[@Temporal94]

@@MindlessMagic Seems to be from a gamasutra article that got deleted in the transition

[@Nighterlev]

This is an out of context quote from Frank O'Connor who said they hired people who hated X about Halo and wanted to improve that, were passionate about Halo, and wanted to do better with Halo vs what it was doing. You may as well be wrong.

[@stopit1970]

Laughed through the entire video but legit felt like crying in the last 2 minutes. It really is a monumental tragedy with regards to what this franchise has become.

[@davidshillaker7578]

same.

[@franktheavocado7573]

It really isn’t that serious

[@adsadam1]

It can't get much worse than this, this is rock bottom. We have hope that Microsoft actually change shit up, get rid of their execs like Nelson who don't care enough to fire their literal friends, and use id Software to build the next Halo.

[@Yittups]

My buddy's and I had a blast playing ranked all weekend and doing custom games. Halo is in a better place now just boot it up and play.

[@srccretdude123]

The ending made me so fucking sad ::(

[@SpectorEuro4]

The real villain here is Microsoft keeping faith on such an incompetent team for so long.

[@ObviouslyKieran]

Microsoft don't care anymore, they're about to buy Call of Duty whole.

[@SpectorEuro4]

@@ObviouslyKieran And turn it into another Halo fiasco I’m sure.

[@ObviouslyKieran]

@@SpectorEuro4 They have Treyarch at least but they fixed the old games servers.

[@FA-nd9uk]

@ObviouskyKieran, anyone thinking that M$ buying Activision is a good thing is setting themselve for a rude awakening. Everything they touch is ruined, always. They are like EA and Activision that they run everything to the ground and that studios they buy end shutting down. They are terrible, lol.

[@justsomejerseydevilwithint4606]

I'd like this comment, but you have 343 likes. IRONY.

[@Sound557]

Honestly the announcement of Infinite being a “live service” should’ve been seen as the kiss of death.

[@macdhomhnaill7721]

Yep, killed my hype with those words and I didn’t bother. That and I don’t do stuff with 👩‍💼 studio heads. Not gonna bother with something so incompetent that it let someone like Bonnie Ross lead it for 10 years. Then it goes F2P and live service. No idea why people let themselves be fooled by a CGI trailer.

[@sunlitsonata6853]

10 year plan, they said. Then they cancelled any and all story content and turned more and more people away from the multiplayer

[@bbfreak10000]

It was for anyone who wasn’t a delusional 343 fanboy.

[@halogod0298]

Everybody that wasn’t huffing copy him did see that. If you said anything like that online though people called you a Bungie Fanboys

[@ImTakingYouToFlavorTown]

​@@sunlitsonata6853It reminds me of Destiny's 10 year plan.

[@SSD774A]

long-time Halo fan here, you did a great job on this video! really explains how Halo Infinite turned out like this, I heard somewhere they spent $500 million to make this game, but why you would spend it all on contractors is beyond me.

[@Magnarmis]

Meanwhile Arrowhead manages to make a way better game that some are calling "the Halo killer" (it definitely gives me the feeling that firefight used to back in halo reach) for around 500k which is 1/1000th the cost. The first three halo games likely costed less combined than halo infinite.

[@voidboi0]

This whole video was insanely well produced! Cheers! Here before XQC reuploads the whole thing while eating!

[@fraughtmonster8]

I’m fucking dyingggg 😭😭😭😭

[@yellow242]

@@fraughtmonster8 good perish

[@davidlapointe4710]

Personally im not a fan of tiktok brain editing

[@romancatholicgameing]

​​​@@fraughtmonster8 If he's been able to keep his job for this long, then that means his audience retention somehow isn't.

[@looinrims]

Reaction channels should’ve been banned years ago

[@iliakatster]

The fact that halo infinite was as well received as it was despite the massive problem of constantly rotating devs just shows how much wasted potential there is and how 343 could have actually made a great game if they could just hire devs as employees instead of being friggin penny pinchers!

[@amcke09]

Don't think 343 was making that decision. Microsoft is the issue

[@koolaidman4869]

​@@amcke09you act like they're two separate things

[@craftsmanceramics8653]

At the largest point 343 had around 750/800 developers. That's a massive team! It's not a question of labor, it's a question of incredibly poor leadership and management. When Microsoft... *checks notes* Decided to see where the f$çķ their money is going they fired the entire management team and cleared house of every senior developer they brought in. 343 mismanaged development so horribly they're scraping their 10 year project, probably closing the studio, and continuing development with another in house studio.

[@AlphaOmega1237]

​@@craftsmanceramics8653OP didn't say the problem was having too few devs. It's the constant rotation of them to avoid having to sign them on as proper employees. It doesn't matter how many devs you have when literally none of them have more than a year's worth of experience with your niche, one of a kind engine.

[@looinrims]

Wouldn’t matter, all you need to do is make a basic fucking halo game 343 just keeps trend chasing, the chased cod in halo 4, they chased the loot boxes and cod again in halo 5, and in infinite they tried to chase the spam of f2p games that have 0 content but ‘it’s ok cuz all dlc is free!’ So long as 343 keeps chasing trends they will fail, they will always fail.

[@ryanviertel7059]

The mismanagement of this game is just jaw dropping. The core gameplay could have carried this game so far if they had been even marginally competent in other areas. It's a tragedy seeing Halo fall so far.

[@zachrohler1047]

You can exclusively thank 343 for that.

[@skimshady]

@@zachrohler1047microsoft*

[@AustinCameron]

Microsoft can’t handle a basic game but we better have blind allegiance towards their AI and vaccines

[@CountChocula-on9ix]

Yeah the core gameplay is amazing it's the content and everything else that they fucked up....

[@CITRUS--]

This MIGHT seem unrelated but it seems Microsoft are pulling out this old playbook again for the new FORZA MOTORSPORT. If anyone has been following the PR around this game and its appearance at Gamescon this week, you'll notice some very curious similarities between Turn 10 and 343 Industries. Its annoying how benign Microsoft are a head company.

[@LaurensPP]

And now they're just silently letting it bleed to death, without ever coming clean.

[@miroshimaAM]

I watched every second of this 38 minute long video and the thing that stuck with me the most is that 343 actually added a BLM emblem into the game and called it 'Bonobo'. Incredible.

[@stell2cycle764]

What does bonono mean;

[@MasterBuller]

​@@stell2cycle764it's a species of chimpanzee

[@adas2051]

@@stell2cycle764it’s a monkey

[@kadenw092]

the excuse they gave was that the software they use to name items in the game is called "Bonobo" and they forgot to name the BLM emblem so it was named Bonobo by default

[@chaosinc.382]

​@@stell2cycle764Bonobo is a type of ape. Uncertain if you know, but calling a black person 'ape' or 'monkey' is seen as a slur.

[@joelcannan7686]

I'm still in awe of the fact I cannot communicate with the enemy team, in any capacity. I can BARELY communicate with my own team.

[@zechariahpalie1435]

But why would you want to have social features in an online game? What if someone says something offensive and hurts someone's feelings? Better to just have no communication at all. Its way better playing with complete strangers in dead silent lobbies

[@DinoPimp]

I'm willing to deal with a legion of squeakers screaming the n-word just for the chance to meet that one guy on the lobby you vibe with.

[@tobsmonster2]

@zechariahpalie1435 It’s nothing to do with protecting people’s feelings and everything to do with protecting 343’s anti-consumer monetisation strategies. If the game was at all social, people could help each other boost to complete the shitty challenges, and progress their shitty battlepass without having to buy their shitty challenge swaps or XP boosts. Just like having to pay for individual colours, it’s another area where the game has taken a massive step back to support the shitty Free2Play model no one asked for.

[@Frivia]

@@zechariahpalie1435this is exactly why 343 is like this. its the PC snowflake mentality

[@lookiss8502]

Welcome to MODERN gaming Lmao

[@kq2488]

I love when greed destroys a company from the inside. Halo Infinite is a master class in why investing in employees in the long-term is necessary to create something worthwhile.

[@Thatwinebloke]

It's the most expensive game of the franchise so why have contractors?

[@aliciaserrano9698]

@@Thatwineblokeyeah, it’s wild. It really does go to show how far greed in the company went. I honestly think that the gaming industry can get away with essentially whatever now due to the current popularity of games. Essentially almost regardless of the quality of the content put out, there will always be a demand for it. Sucks for the fans, but it seems to have become the norm.

[@LuisSoto-fw3if]

​@@aliciaserrano9698yeah, the thought the same crap a few decades ago too

[@Sleazy-Skuzzy]

@@aliciaserrano9698 The unfortunate reality is that consumers are stupid. The majority of the gaming market now tolerates it, they're the regular people who come home and play for maybe an hour or two a week or on the weekend with their squad, don't think critically about the game at all, don't really care either. Your average gamer now (the target demographic) are people who want cinematic experiences in their games, etc, etc. AAA transformed so drastically in the last 13 years and not for good: so many games are just movies, everything is becoming an open world snorefest, convoluted stories with terrible writing and too many cutscenes. The market is completely saturated with Action RPGS, FPS, and third person shooters, most of which play the same, and companies release the same games over and over with "remasters" and "remakes" within a span of a few years of the game coming out. Companies like Bethesda realized they can release a game and regardless of what state it's released in, they can patch it to completion, people will give them shit tons of money, and any negative press will blow over pretty quickly. Look at Fallout 76: that game makes more in a month than what some new games make in their release week. The big companies have 0 incentive to change their behaviour because negative press doesn't hurt them and long term people will buy the games and then dive into the microtransaction shops and buy shit.

[@SintoCarrera]

The company isn’t destroyed though

[@BeanutButterBoy]

Reach was the only midnight launch I went to when I was 14, and it's the best halo ever.

[@claudiobizama5603]

EVERY TIME they say "This will last us 10 years" It blows up on their faces Looking at you Anthem.

[@matem1649]

yeah like remember anthem was supposed to last ten years and that went well

[@Vanished584]

Gearbox in 2016 with 'Battleborn' scrapped and moved onto Borderlands 3, another (not total) fucking disaster, Then New tales came out. We dont talk about New tales in these parts.

[@Drivaawwrrr]

Destiny comes to mind too. Granted they still have some following, but not nearly as big as it makes out and was supposed to be from their pitch of conception.

[@Freelancer837]

Looking at Bungie with Destiny

[@Servellion]

Anthem did last a massive 2 years, slowly bleeding out the entire time.

[@ivanmartinezhernandez3962]

It’s unreal how a company keep making the same mistake over and over for more than 10 years

[@marcar9marcar972]

When the company doesn’t realize they have made mistakes. It’s next to impossible to fix them

[@ryanhyde7437]

The irony of switching to unreal engine is simply unreal.

[@looinrims]

They don’t think they’re mistakes, that’s why they hold the fans in contempt They want to keep their cushy jobs

[@decrulez]

When they have enough money to absorb the losses it doesn’t matter to them. Anybody who think the Microsoft merger is good in anyway for the consumer is dreaming.

[@poopoo7705]

Bethesda has been failing upwards since oblivion

[@SouthrnKoala]

Im thankful that I grew up experiencing the era where games needed to be complete before being launched. While the technical capabilities back then were definitely lower, it felt like the devs cared more about their games back then. Such a shame to see the entire industry go down this same path of maximum monetization for minimal product

[@chriswarburtonbrown1566]

Not the ENTIRE industry; check out indy developers like Hinterland (The Long Dark), Hooded Horse (Against the Storm) and Bellular Studios (The Pale Beyond) to see great games at a good price and dedicated, ethical developers with a long-term commitment. There seems a particular issue with FPS type games which require huge investment and have massive hype attached to them; hype which is rarely justified.

[@SouthrnKoala]

@@chriswarburtonbrown1566 true, there are those that still put the effort in. I just wish it was still the norm, not the exception

[@Jiub_SN]

@@chriswarburtonbrown1566long dark came out like 10 years ago, I played it as a kid lmao. Indie is just as bad but it does have more stand outs I suppose

[@sinnlos229]

It's not the Devs man, don't blame the code monkeys. The money grubby execs are the fucking problem

[@m4rcyonstation93]

I mean all you need to look at is the majority of semi successful indies to find good put together games at launch

[@zuzanagaskova2721]

Bonnie: we've learned our lesson Also bonnie: refusing to learn a lesson

[@MrGrim504]

this franchise was a cornerstone in my gaming journey of 30+ years..i missed the days of having a bunch of your friends over and play local 4v4 team slayer..wed bring over a case of beer, bbq and game all night

[@BethesdaModder]

I used to participate in LAN parties during the Halo CE days, but I never expected that would be the pinnacle of Xbox multiplayer lol

[@JPNEETozaki]

Gaylo was always trash compared to Quake, CS, etc.

[@carlkligerman1981]

Yeah those days are over. Sad

[@808s_and_heart_palpatations]

@@JPNEETozakiare you seriously tryna have that discussion in 2023

[@basedtortellini]

Im a bit younger than that (22), but even me and my friends would always play halo 3 and halo reach LAN parties. Good times

[@NotRealAkira]

You honestly made 343 look better than they actually are lmao

[@ReachTea]

Honestly, I don't have enough fingers to count on my hands how much dirty mischievous cunning tricks they've pulled since launch, horrible studio

[@dinosaurbros8908]

​@@ReachTeabruh not ass bad destiny 2 Bungie I'll be honest.

[@bigbully1277]

@@dinosaurbros8908my brother on Christ comparing shit to shit still makes it shit.

[@PherPhur]

@@dinosaurbros8908 what the fuck did you just say?

[@ratel832]

343 is so incompetent that it is genuinely impressive, They haven't developed a single successful game in 10 years and it seems they are making a conscious effort to take the worst possible decision at every turn

[@Vaz44-4]

Ong

[@the13thjoker]

Blame that on microsoft. What 343 games before Halo ? Nothing. They doesnt earn Halo.

[@tsukopara2054]

@@the13thjokerI'd rather blame it on the people who actually make these games. Plenty of AAA studios deal with terrible publishers and shitty management, and yet outside of maybe 2042, almost none of them have ever been as shit as all three 343 games. 343 have also changed creative and design leads for every game, including writers and gameplay development leads. That they couldn't get it right after three tries shows they'll never get it right. Microsoft doesn't manage its studios properly, but 343 are simply uniquely terrible at game development. A studio propped up by corporate nepotism, desperately recruiting any idiot with game design qualifications they can, and trying on low quality contractors. I'll be very surprised if 343 even still exist in another 2-3 years now that Microsoft own Call of Duty. Why waste $500 million on a single mediocre Halo game that underperforms when that kind of money can fund three Call of Duty games that are guaranteed successes every time?

[@sketchywav7741]

Literally

[@LasagaMan]

Sales wise, they did succeed with Halo 4 and Infinite, though that generally came from the Hype from Halo 3 and Infinite's marketing

[@baileyayyy5085]

I had to google the halo cookbook to believe that wasn't a joke

[@Adam-082]

I am just thankful I was able to live through the Bungie days of Halo. The way Microsoft, 343 and the gaming industry is as a whole we will never get a Halo game like we had back then. Great story great multiplayer and great lore is a thing 343 just doesn't know how to do :(

[@drmigly]

We will dude, just not under 343. They'll get replaced. Only question is when.

[@handrising3714]

@@drmigly yeah, pacience is the key

[@DjBlazz2K10]

The way games are made now it will never be the same as those good old days. Back then a game was made at a set price, so developers wanted to make something fun that would stick with you. Now with micro transactions and game passes, developers are just making games designed to stretch our pockets. Unfortunately the gaming industry is pretty shit now, with the odd exceptions like baldurs gate.

[@allenseeallendo5844]

Agreed. I’m happy with what we got to experience. I’m also happy I didn’t play this hot mess.

[@daBears06]

​@@drmiglyid software would be perfect. Most devs who made Doon 2016 and doom external didn't even touch the older games but they looked at what made them great and made 2 amazing games. I think they can do the same with halo

[@ShuckleII]

A company that hires almost exclusively contractors instead of employees so they can skip giving them benefits is like parents that constantly remind their kids they're getting kicked out of the house at 18, and will do it even if they end up being disabled or anything similarly difficult. They're both there just to use you and send you back into the social blender as soon as possible.

[@Mr_Bones.]

I never would’ve guessed that they were hiring short term contractors to build an entire AAA game because it’s so insanely stupid. There’s a reason other studios don’t do that, for the same reason you wouldn’t fire the guy that installed your first floor electrical in your new house and hired a complete random guy that had to be trained on the job for months to do the second floor. It’s such a moronic strategy to save money that I feel I have become dumber just knowing about it 🤦🏽‍♂️

[@TheCyanWool]

I'm sorry to say but this very much is the standard of modern AAA gaming companies - and is also why theres been such a drastic slump in quality

[@SpectorEuro4]

@@TheCyanWoolthe standard of any modern tech company really.

[@wafflingmean4477]

Thank you for putting Bonnie in the clip where they announced split screen was cancelled. Joe Staten was told to fix a project well after it was a lost cause. They just wanted him to be the one to deliver bad news to mitigate the PR disaster. Bonnie Ross is the ultimate reason we never got split screen. She was in charge of 343 from Day 1.

[@BronzeAgePepper]

"Good riddance" was an understatement the day we learned she was out

[@dragonsdynamite6403]

Isn’t it odd every latest destruction of a series is headed by a female

[@wafflingmean4477]

@@dragonsdynamite6403 Uh... that's not even slightly true. Can you please crawl back into whatever hole you came out of? Sexism doesn't make you some badass edgelord.

[@georgebaggy]

@@BronzeAgePepper I just can't believe it took this long. EVERY single Halo game had a botched development and launch under her leadership. I'm convinced she must have fucked Phil Spencer or something to get to where she was and was threatening him with blackmail over it not to fire her.

[@kennymiller3929]

@@dragonsdynamite6403don’t be like that. An entire gender is not to be judged upon the diversity-blind mistakes of huge corporations. There are many hardworking, intelligent, and creative female game devs in the industry that we just don’t hear about. It is an example of selection bias that we pay most attention to the leadership of failing ventures, and put extra scrutiny on such female leadership due to their novelty. Please befriend some women and have an open mind to their perspectives.

[@davidoropeza5277]

BREAKING NEWS: After two seasons of Halo on Paramount+, the series is canceled! Didn’t see that coming but a win for Big Boss.

[@android1617]

Comparing 343's management to Michael Scott is a huge insult...to Michael Scott.

[@thomasprice7893]

You can never accuse Micheal of not being passionate enough

[@lorideprod.]

Genuinely

[@DP12321]

Michael Scott cared for his employees. Michael Scott delivered results.

[@VaughanDee93]

I feel like so many OG Halo fans have just given up and moved on at this point

[@pikachu896]

Been playing since Halo CE, gave up after Halo 4. I still play Halo a lot but just the classic games on MCC. Literally beat the Halo 3 campaign again with a friend a couple of days ago. No matter how many times I beat those games, I always have A LOT of fun with them.

[@dropstopandroll]

I gave up at halo 4, tried 5 and infinite but 343s halos are just shit. Love Bungies halos and still play them all the time on mcc

[@AlwayzFresh]

Confirmed, I bought the OG Halo release day. Now it is pure sh!t

[@matem1649]

no they have not and never will

[@DP12321]

Yup. Halo is dead after 5 and Infinite just peed on the corpse. A dull, incomplete, unexciting mess of a project. You know why half the game is free to play? Because it's not worth paying for! 343 should be renamed 404 because there's no good games to be found.

[@SnackPack913]

I remember reaching the end of the campaign and thinking that I thought the game was just getting into act 2 not the finale lol

[@MaxiemumKarnage]

Mfw

[@TeoZMuff313]

Especially when you blast through the missions with tank gun

[@SgtBean]

Yeah teasing about the endless something worse then the flood, then NO ENDLESS. BRUH. So stupid.

[@JustSomeDinosaurPerson]

@@SgtBean Honestly them being touted as worse than the Flood was already a terrible decision.

[@caseyhall2320]

@@JustSomeDinosaurPerson Yeah, honestly, that whole speech from the Endless Lady felt like amateur dialogue writing. I'm genuinely unconvinced anything's worse than the fecken Flood. Especially when you've watched so much HiddenXperia Flood lore videos like myself, lmao. For clarification though, I do mean video game lore-wise. If we're adding written lore, then I really don't think they're worse than Flood lol.

[@AniGaAG]

At least 343 Industries has a fitting name. First people play Halo 3... then Halo 4... a-and then Halo 3 again.

[@theFirstAidKit]

As a game programmer I can safely say that the contract work model they had for their employees pretty much explains everything that's wrong with the game from a technical point of view. Why waste time on creating quality code if you wont work with it later or get rewarded for doing so. You might even be incentivized to do the opposite because it's ofter faster to just whip up something that looks good at first, but is a nightmare if you want to make any changes.

[@erbz]

prob why the next devs who took over had no idea how to even build on the same engine lmao.. they just did whatever they wanted to, got the 18 month pay and said kiss my ass microsoft lol or something along those lines

[@notapuma]

​@@erbzGood for those programmers, tbh. If you want talented employees, treat them like full time employees.... not contractors, lmao. 343 and Microsoft obviously have never heard of "You get what you pay for"

[@notapuma]

​@@erbzGood for those programmers, tbh. If you want talented employees, treat them like full time employees.... not contractors, lmao. 343 and Microsoft obviously have never heard of "You get what you pay for"

[@D64nz]

​@@erbzit's so much harder working on a half made project with no info than starting a new project from scratch. They should have just treated the existing code as a resource library, use any working parts, and otherwise rewrite the rest.

[@crabmannyjoe2]

Yup, just make the spaghetti code work, and the next guy has to deal with it. 😂

[@catnipflowers5803]

"We'll promise 10 years of halo content!" What they meant is that it will take 10 years to get a game with content

[@helioline]

Deadass thought exactly that when he said it, damn

[@spleancrush]

lol

[@JM-ql7mh]

If this was any other studio in the world (and not bankrolled by Microsoft) they would be BURIED, literally BURIED, in debt. Excellent video.

[@leoisaki]

Update: 343 has recently announced their plans to discontinue major update support for Infinite O7, wish I could say it’s been a good run

[@Elliesbow]

how bonnie ross got that job is beyond me. You cant convince me she actually is a person who goes home after work and plays games. Wtf did she even do?

[@CraazyGamerz]

What's really interesting though, she is the reason halo kept kicking. Microsoft didn't even know what to do with halo when bungie left

[@MysteryT]

☕️ ☕️

[@simunator]

she gives pretty mid bj's

[@TheSMR1969]

​​@@MysteryTmen, am i right, giving inexperienced people jobs they're not ready for

[@RePeLSTeeLTJe--]

They followed a political agenda fueled by greed rather then actually picking the right person for the job. regarless of the sex, you should look at someones actual qualities, not what is between thier legs. It could have been another woman, but not Bonnie Ross, as you said, i doubt she even knows what teabagging is.... Yeah well, nice results lmao. At least it's funny to see 343i and MS making weak excuses (mY Ui Has AuTisM) and desperately holding up the corpse of a dead franchise. They are so in denial of the whole situation, it's like a family drama playing right before your very own eyes.

[@Frozen_Death_Knight]

36:33 Fun story about that bug resetting user settings. It's been a bug since launch and apparently it affects only specific accounts because of how they are named. It affected me, so every time I booted up the game I had to adjust everything from graphics to sound just to get a working game. The fact that this hasn't been fixed yet is one of the most baffling things I've ever experienced in a supposedly triple-A game. It is pathetically sad and funny at the same time that I can't decide which. EDIT (9 months later): So fun story. I reported this bug many months ago about my issue. Every major update I got a message asking me if my issue was fixed, which was never the case. Eventually I just stopped responding to my ticket since it was a giant waste of time looking every time and making a response. My ticket was of course closed down because apparently tickets are only active as long as the user is active. I guess the problem doesn't exist if I no longer play the game. Big brain move, 343! XD

[@SaltyCanadian]

More sad then funny at this point I’d say

[@shrumgus5608]

I Thought it was because I would go between PC and Xbox so it couldn’t pick from just one. This is actually so much dumber.

[@Elenrai]

this lets them sell 10 dollar name changes on xbox to alter your username for your xbox account....so...its actually brilliant

[@npip99]

37:00 I love how "big things still in the works" is a list of things Halo 3 and Halo Reach had from the start. 35:50 Dang, I feel like those are EXACTLY the devs they needed. The original devs from Bungie invented Halo by accident when they realized driving around in Warthog was so fun that they could make a game out of it.

[@haiUnderground]

Bonnie Ross left 343 in the most cowardly way possible. It was literally right after Penguinz0 made a video about how awful 343 is. She made excuses and could not handle taking accountability for her failures.

[@FatalDreidel]

Women take accountability? LOL

[@Adenybaloi]

​@@FatalDreidel cringe

[@chaosinc.382]

​@@FatalDreidel it isnt their strongsuit.

[@grhp4610]

@@FatalDreidel "Women take accountability? LOL" Does that include your mama and grandmama?

[@vixx-kun7686]

She won't sleep with you bruh​@@grhp4610

[@feartheoldblood]

Halo died with Reach. Chief is still floating in space, remembered as a legend which slowly fades into myth. That is how I tell it, and no one will ever convince me otherwise.

[@teenageleafzer0876]

Reach was a prequel not the end to the saga

[@feartheoldblood]

@@teenageleafzer0876 the series died with Reach. There is nothing more to say.

[@stillrecklessdriving]

​@feartheoldblood Halo 4 was one of the best Halos and had the most in-depth stories that only real fans understood. You sound like a pathetic child feeling sorry for themselves.

[@jrfirefiher]

@@feartheoldblooddelusional

[@feartheoldblood]

@@jrfirefiher you just like shitty games

[@weebenslaver]

I think people need to give 343 more credit tbh. It's not everyday you get a studio so bad that they take one of the biggest gaming franchises in the industry and butcher it so badly that even PALADINS has more concurrent players than it

[@shreksnow1918]

The best punishment would be to give everyone there their own dedicated Kiwi Farms threads.

[@daBears06]

You almost got me in the first half ngl

[@shawklan27]

*Certified 343 moment

[@Tuxedo512]

paladins is fun tho

[@heistingcrusader_ad3223]

​@@Tuxedo512it's also mismanaged to hell and back

[@wafflingmean4477]

About the Challenge progression system, I am 100% certain that the matchmaking is coded to reduce your chances of being put in game modes that you can complete your challenge in (back when Quick Play was the only option). For example, whenever I had CTF challenges, out of 10 games, one would be CTF if I was lucky. If I had a Slayer and a CTF challenge. I would be trapped in Oddball almost permanently. I'm talking playing for literally up to 5 hours and struggling to get 25 kills "in a Slayer match" (100s of kills in that time, but maybe 13 in a Slayer match). And the real kicker was, if I got frustrated and replaced a Challenge (with the one free challenge replacement), removing my CTF challenge, all of a sudden I consistently get CTF games, sometimes 6 out of 10. I tested this for weeks and I'm 100% certain. The game was designed to prevent progression in the hope to string players along. And guess what, on the store, you can BUY challenge replacements.

[@moisessanchez9253]

Do you remember the ultimate challenge for that week? Get 3 CTF wins on rank, that was a awful week for me. Because everything was random, the matches they put you in were random and you needed to win

[@Alien-fv9gd]

Can confirm.

[@dbzfanofalltimes]

Its really telling how many times you had to use that flex tape clip to describe this game

[@bo3inprofilepic292]

Bro it’s almost unbelievable at how incompetent 343 is. I don’t even play halo and hearing how they cannot get a single thing right is frustratingly hilarious. Great Video, had me laughing the entire way through

[@andrewmcmahon4028]

so your opinion is invalid then?

[@tsukopara2054]

@@andrewmcmahon4028You don't need to eat shit to know what it tastes like, 343 have been a laughing stock in the overall gaming industry since Halo 4.

[@charlescabbage2933]

Look man.. It was all bad leadership and corporate bullshit that really let this game down.. There were plenty of devs who were passionate to make the game great... Now we're finally getting what is needed..

[@deitchj003]

Play halo

[@TheUgliestBarnacle]

@@andrewmcmahon4028lmao salty fanboy found

[@Musical_Mayo]

The biggest thing that killed it for me was paying for like 90% of the customization in this game or having to tediously grind for the crappy bargain bin armors. Content and bugs can be updated over time even though it shouldn’t be that way but the shitty monetization wont ever change

[@egodumpster]

The customization you can unlock is fire too

[@BrandonRx2]

I remember that's what I loved about Halo Reach is that everything you got is that you earned and decides to buy for yourself

[@Deoxy_Na]

I remember getting flamed for "wanting the game to be bad" because I was sceptical that 343 would deliver half of what the promised at launch. I don't understand why consumers keep eating up everything put in front of them without any assurance that what they are paying for is what they will ACTUALLY GET.

[@TheJayson8899]

Okay but why would you want it to be bad

[@11DowningStreet]

​@@TheJayson8899he didn't lol

[@cleanerben9636]

because they are stupid

[@maxim196]

​@@TheJayson8899Some man...just want to watch the world burn

[@praetorian3902]

I don't get it either. My guess is mediocre standards and having no principles. Probably no self-respect since having principles comes from self-respect. Maybe for the same reason that lots of men simp for women. What about you, do you have a guess on why consumers will still pay money to the same company that has screwed them in the past ? (we're talking about the same thing here, I just phrased it differently)

[@goodhunter9791]

The spirit of Halo has been dead for a while. Years in fact. It's gone, and probably never coming back in its full glory ever again.

[@overkilled653]

I think the Master Chief in Infinite serves as a great stand-in for the fans: Grieving while still carrying on with a hollow facsimile of something once beloved.

[@chromaticperception]

The progression topic is actually crazy. Remember the days where games where played for fun and didnt need progression? Even halo 3 had just the ranks and that was it. Still i played that game more than any other. These days people need reasons to play thats why there are battle passes and such.

[@ASRMN27]

I’ve made this exact point several times. If the game is fun that’s all the incentive you need to play. I still play MCC and haven’t paid attention to the progression in years. The games are just fun. Infinites core gameplay is lacking at best.

[@butterh2]

​@@ASRMN27something i just discovered in mcc's settings is that you can just straight up disable all the news unlockable skins and such in all the games and revert to the original customization the games offered. tangentially related to your comment but i think it's neat

[@darthgamer9861]

I know its late but 100% this. I have made the case that my friends dont actually enjoy OW2 because the literal moment they complete their dailies thats it, they close the game. They get annoyed when I suggest it and yet we often play games like HOTS or Lethal company for far longer sessions despite either completing the quests or them not having them. Hell, I still play TF2 and do not do contracts or do the competitive portion. Games used to be played for their own sake.

[@Luis-by7li]

I moved on from Halo infinite about 6 months after release. It was indeed time to say farewell to my beloved halo. I dont regret the journey because I still cherish all the memories that came with it.

[@griddycheese]

It just didnt feel fun playing halo infinite after the first few rounds it felt very void

[@NathanSF-qr2ds]

Stop being so damn dramatic it’s just a video game

[@Luis-by7li]

@@NathanSF-qr2ds sounds like you’re the one being dramatic lol

[@NathanSF-qr2ds]

@@Luis-by7li idk man, your acting like Halo was your lover or something

[@beningram-eiser6121]

Dude its so fun now. I recomend re trying

[@ImStillWoody]

I honestly wish Halo ended at either Reach or Halo 4 because then I'd still be yearning for more instead of wishing this franchise to finally be put out of its misery.

[@Ankhtheanimator]

Halo infinite really does enforce the meaning of "You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain."

[@cogd1599]

Ha! I was gonna say this; now I don't have to. That quote is SO pertinent in every element of life.

[@hashbrown777]

Except they've been the villain long enough to get a redemption arc. Season 5 has *finally* pulled it all together, in the same fashion MCC was pulled from death

[@StevenSudweeks]

@@hashbrown777 naw man. It's still trash. They have a very long road to go still until they are anywhere near a redemption arc

[@tor2919]

That saying doesn’t make any sense. Mario is what - more than twice as old as Halo? Mario Odyssey is seen as the best 3d Mario by many. Not to mention tears of the kingdom et c.

[@RoachChaddjr]

I'm glad there are still few channels seasonally updating me on the Halo Infinite situation. It feels like a LOT of channels have fallen off, don't care, and just all together stopped playing like the crowd, including myself. I will always be curious where Infinite stands, even when I don't play anymore. Good video!

[@scotthalligan3451]

Try watching Mint Blitz to see the good side of things. There’s still a devoted community to infinite and things ARE improving

[@gogousa6661]

@@scotthalligan3451LOL that dude is Toxic af

[@lastmanstanding7155]

​​@@scotthalligan3451 Hey man. I'm glad you're an optimist. So don't take this personally when I say, I will not touch that dog shit game again.

[@savagemcflurry9082]

The gaming industry has gotten so pathetic, greedy and broken. That now, it's truly a rare sight when a AAA release, or any game for that matter launches complete and playable. Isn't it so sad? And isn't it so much more depressing, that Halo of all series out there is guilty on all counts of the crimes that plague this industy today?

[@Scroogey_boy]

its good because indie games have a chance to shine

[@darthdarthbinkss]

@@Scroogey_boyThe only silver lining ^^

[@GloriousGrunt]

It's made me appreciate older games and I'm enjoying playing the classics again.

[@aprinnyonbreak1290]

Really, it's the obsession with contractors that's directly responsible for a lot of it. Nobody has time to figure out what they're doing, there's nobody with good understanding of the things being used, and game development ships of theseus are so mainstream that any company that DOES have a stable workforce stands out. That itself gets kicked back to shortsighted greed, but, eh

[@joesmith-tr2nj]

Great video, lots of answers to lots of questions. Much appreciated. As far as World of Tanks goes, in reference to your link. I tried the game and I have to say I have never seen a more hostile player environment in any game I've played in the last 10 years, worst of the worse.

[@mattsterh7740]

In hindsight, the limitations on the first halo seem to be a benefit. Its easier to design a finite space that you know how the players will see the level as opposed to open world that feels like a herculean task of developing and making interesting. Also open worlds, no matter how hard they try, become derpy like seeing people randomly fight in a bethesda game.

[@zero1487]

right. So just dont make an open world game. You've got to have an incredibly good team with great organization and vision to be able to make a memorable one (which 343 has never had). On top of that, Halo just makes little sense as an open world game

[@chickennuggetman2593]

not only that, but the first halos old graphics makes it actually runnable by my pc

[@jonathannester7486]

I disagree, you can absolutely make the halo formula do its magic in an open world. (whether it would be better than a traditional halo game is a different subject) the problem is that 343 didn't even try with it. it's honestly one of the most soulless open worlds I've seen. "random" encounters consists solely of a enemy group, friendly group, or vehicle spawn. they don't even make it so you could come across random battles between the UNSC and banished. It would have been so cool to come across an active battle deciding to join in and having the game react to that by having a faceless brute commander saying something like "the Demon is upon us Brothers, we need reinforcements" and then having phantoms come in and as the battle progresses towards a peak the game eventually pulls out a finishing event like where a Scarab Drops in. Imagine how amazing that would be to just organically encounter in the open world. Of course, the scarab's AI wouldn't be completely dynamic and would be locked to the general areas it could drop into. Infinite also suffers greatly by its singular bland environment and that there is no reason to explore it. There is like a singular cool thing that you can stumble upon organically that is unmarked. If 343 did make the world actually engage with you; they would of had the option to make the Valor points actually engaging and dynamic. Imagine if you could spend valor to requisition an assault force so that you could attack a banished camp that is actually being "built" in game or to destroy a convey delivering weapons and troops to an already established stronghold to weaken it. You could even have the world overall change as you progress thru the campaing. it would have been cool if somewhere in the middle of the campaign you destroy a ship, and it crashes and completely changes a previous location you already got to explore. You know things that make the world feel alive and that it exists outside of your presence, but you still leave a lasting effect on it. Infinite has none of that. They sacrificed alot of the benefits that linear missions have then proceeded to make the open world so lifeless that it actively detracts from the experience.

[@YaNoAwantoMas]

I got banned from the waypoint forums for suggesting Bonnie Ross should be fired... and I LMAOed so hard when she inevitably did...

[@Sentinel_ICBM]

but muh diversity

[@EpicDurian6964]

@@Sentinel_ICBM lol

[@TheResilient5689]

I feel like 343 is just so ban-happy. Did it happen to a lot of you?

[@CountChokcula]

diversity hire. had to be.

[@jer103]

Learning about all of the problems at the end, made more sense of things. This was a fast sinking ship right after they changed the story, and did a complete reboot. It's funny how the same thing happened to Destiny between Activation and Bungie. It took them years to rebuild Destiny, and earn back the fan's trust.

[@GigaChadstar]

"I dont personally agree we owe folks a detailed disertation" these words fueled my rage so bad you have no idea

[@deathtenk]

imagine a world where game developers just make a feature complete game and release it to praise and good reviews because it's just a good game? yea. what a world that would be.

[@caseyhall2320]

I wanna live in that world so bad.

[@420quickscoper5]

elden ring

[@TheDrak138]

Baldur's gate 3 although the gameplay is not everyone's cup of tea.

[@restlessfrager]

Boo fucking hoo. God forbid a D&D game actuslly plays like d&d for once

[@lightningblade9117]

Octopath traveler 2.

[@raijingymnasticstricking]

This generation of gamers will sadly never experience what it’s like to have a fully functioning game with everything there and little to no va whatsoever

[@Jaxymann]

I can’t believe how many developers still claim their game will have “10 year lifecycles” simply because it’s ‘Live Service’, given how many of them completely die within 24 months of release like Anthem and Babylon’s Fall. You think they would’ve learned by now.

[@lucask4377]

37:16 this aged well

[@MadisynTillman-b5h]

"343 is now looking three-for-three" was such an excellent line.. Comparing 343's management to Michael Scott is a huge insult...to Michael Scott..

[@zacharyjackson1829]

it's stupidly funny that they thought it was a good idea to have TEMPS develop their new engine and they didn't even think that maybe keeping some of those temporary contractors so they would have people who were experienced with the engine would be around to help and train new people with it would be a great idea

[@gots0359]

whoever did that probably doesnt even know philosophy of working with in-house engine and hiring contractors, they were probably more concerned with saving money

[@user-ns4zm8qe9p]

@@gots0359the people in charge speak binary basically. It’s either + or -

[@LeftyTheHefty]

Something that wasn't mentioned was the thing that made me realize just how jacked up the underlying infrastructure of this game is. Over the summer, 343 released a ranked playlist balance update that did nothing but change the "flag caps to win" on a couple of the larger maps from 5 to 3. That single change in one line of code inexplicably jacked up progression for almost a week, awarding almost no MMR for wins and taking away massive MMR for losses regardless of performance. Even 343 has no idea how it happened, only that it was caused by contractors that were by that point long gone from the studio. I stopped playing it about a week later. It's almost a shame that the core gameplay loop of this game is really fun despite the rat's nest of careless uncommented code underneath the hood. What a waste.

[@nagger8216]

Oh yeah, this engine is fucked beyond any and all repair. I remember that time they were having trouble adding in a ranking system because the "UI couldn't support it." This game is a textbook example of being absolutely pathetic

[@scotthalligan3451]

I appreciate this comment. The actual problems of infinite are the garbage micro transactions and technical debt accrued on top of Microsoft being a greedy corporation. The reason I keep playing the game is because the gameplay has an incredible depth of skill expression, but I don’t blame folks for leaving. I do blame crybaby bungie fans for being continuously pessimistic as Piers Morgan tries to improve the game. I do believe that it can live up to any other Halo multiplayer experience with time, as someone who has played from OG CE to infinite

[@nagger8216]

@@scotthalligan3451 Remember, this game is broken, but what's the one thing they made sure worked day one? The shop

[@ReachTea]

Is the gameplay really that fun though? The sandbox is wonk and Ill-balanced at best and the game has min max ultra fast strafe speed with no inertia and it has sprint slide clamber so you have to be pressing a million buttons to be good at the game

[@adsadam1]

I assume you mean "undocumented" code, because good code shouldn't require many comments to explain what it's doing.

[@OneOnOne1162]

4:30 - I basically hadn't been paying attention to Halo since first playing "Halo 4" despite it having been my favourite game series for a solid decade. But when they announced that Joseph Staten was on for Infinite that actually got my attention.

[@7DeadlyJinxs]

343 deserved 100% of the axe instead of just 50% of it.

[@spaceduck2130]

Yes, can't believe how they let the studio survive.

[@looinrims]

They’ve deserved it since halo 4

[@revan5293]

Fire343

[@nick_fuqua]

This is what Microsoft does with every product they have. They cut corners to save money whenever possible, even if it is to the detriment to their users.

[@lukewolsey]

I've been playing since 2002 - bought Halo 4 on release and stopped playing from then on. Played a little Infinite but it was so laggy I stopped within a couple of weeks. Very glad I have thousands of hours of memories of Combat Evolved, 2, 3, ODST and Reach.

[@Jack-Nasty]

At least we got reach bro, unfortunately everything good comes to an end eventually

[@City-Hunter]

Friend, get Garry's Mod, add mods for AI, NPCs + skins + weapons + maps of halo = enjoy a self made editor of Halo in Source engine 2

[@ryanthompson6992]

infinite us decent now. forge is good. multiplayer progression is pretty poor still

[@smokingwolf4152]

Sorry ill never forgive a company that bold face lies about split screen and releases a game that doesn't launch a campaign with co op..you know..a founding component of the franchise. I could care less how good infinite is at this point.

[@City-Hunter]

@@smokingwolf4152 As a longtime fan of Halo 1 & 2, with independant Bungie, i agree. FUKK 343 Industries trying to reinvent the wheel, with woke shit, with corporate marketing idiocy.

[@kureikon]

Honestly though to 343's credit, out of the three major shooters to release around that time (CoD Vanguard and 2042), Infinite surprisingly lasted longer before going downhill.

[@AzureRoxe]

And then had the worse fall of the 3.

[@rapturescorner5964]

Yeah except CoD and Battlefield didn't take 6 f*cking years to make

[@Griff589]

2042 managed to make a half-hearted comeback that makes it playable every now and then, I can’t say the same for halo infinite

[@charlesmartiniii1405]

Dude remember when battlefield 4, black ops 2, halo reach, and so on were gunning for quality. Times really change

[@Adromelk]

Since this videos release, The halo battle royale has been cancelled and all seasons for infinite going forward have been cancelled as well. It's Over.

[@Faceu7745]

Fr? Damn

[@bloodhound1182]

Cancelling the battle royale was a good idea tbh. IF they are going to implement smthn like that it'd need to be its own ODST spinoff game or smthn. Also WTF are u serious are they actually cancelling all the seasons going forward?? So NO new content??

[@icefire99699]

Private studios just do it better, they have the incentive, the drive, and the passion to achieve greatness. To bad for Joseph Staten, he is a great writer and creative mind. His Halo books are great and the story he imagined as an anthology of games will be remembered forever in gaming. His story for Destiny also was partially canned by big studio leads that Bungie partnered with on those games. I wish they would put him charge of the future of Halo like Dave Filoni is for Star Wars. The unfortunate truth is that large studios are short sited and business centric minds. They don't realize the benefit of the older generation of people who game, who have the expendable income that they would love to put into games like this. We are now turning to the small independent games that are cheap and made by as few people as possible for entertainment. A small $15-$40 game that has maybe 20hrs of content is now my go to. Modern Gaming... what can I say.

[@aeronautisch]

Hit the nail on the head.

[@nosidenoside2458]

You might not actually know this but the world doesn't exist after three financial quarters, so they don't actually have to do any thinking past then

[@fizzcochito]

​@@nosidenoside2458get this man a CEO position asap

[@argnstuff321]

This actually gives me hope because the solution is so obvious. This era of mega greedy gaming that is following the super shitty pay to play model of mobile gaming is creating a market gap. There is a massive population of people that will pay and participate in games that do not follow the current game model of 343 and many other studios. Game dev Studios need to figure this out en masse and get it right. I think eventually one will, then another then another because giving customers something they actually want to buy is always more profitable, always. In the meantime, it's just gonna suck.

[@icefire99699]

@@argnstuff321 Plus people are still playing games from the 80's and 90's. Nintendo bestsellers usually include remakes of there own games from old consoles.

[@SCF721]

Halo Infinite was like a literal roller with how it had people's emotions with such highs and lows with all the twists and loops in between

[@Zman6258]

I haven't seen anyone else mention it, so I just wanted to give props for the transitions mirroring the OG Halo: CE loading screens. Sooooo much nostalgia packed into five seconds of transition.

[@BlaireRabbit1440]

Just about to comment this but had to check to see if anyone else mentioned it first. I second this, what a flashback.