Halo Infinite just saw another long-time veteran leave developer 343 Industries for new opportunities, after 14 long years.
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Art director Nicholas "Sparth" Bouvier has announced he is leaving 343 to pursue new career paths outside 343 and Microsoft, reports Windows Central. He departs the company after working on Halo 4, Halo 5: Guardians, and the aforementioned Infinite - where he helped establish the new game's overall look and atmosphere. Bouvier announced his departure on Twitter recently:
All good things come to an end. After close to 14 years on HALO, I have decided to pursue other opportunities outside Microsoft and 343 Industries. It's been a hell of a ride, loved every minute of it. Wishing the absolute best to 343, you guys are and always will be amazing. pic.twitter.com/6mmQtvLTW7
— sparth (@nbsparth) July 18, 2022
If you can't view the embedded tweet, here's what he said:
"All good things come to an end. After close to 14 years on Halo, I have decided to pursue other opportunities outside Microsoft and 343 Industries. It's been a hell of a ride, loved every minute of it. Wishing the absolute best to 343, you guys are and always will be amazing."
It is not known where Bouvier plans to take his talents, but it's for certain that any game studio could use someone of his considerable skill and industry experience. He's been working on the Halo franchise since 2009, and was instrumental in creating the cover art for so many popular books based on Microsoft's gaming poster child.
Among the books whose covers he worked on include Halo Evolutions: Essential Tales Of The HaloUniverse, Smoke And Shadow, Warfleet, and Escalation. But aside from working on the preeminent Xbox exclusive, Bouvier has also contributed to other franchises including Ubisoft's Prince of Persia and Assassin's Creed series.
The departure of Bouvier follows the most recent one, that of Halo Infinite design head Jerry Hook. As per Eurogamer, Hook is one of the most instrumental folks in the crafting of the original Xbox Live service. 343 Industries have also lost the services of former creative director Tim Longo and former lead producer Mary Olson, both of which left 343 back in 2019.
Good luck to Bouvier on his future endeavors.
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Will This Affect Halo Infinite In Some Way?
If you think about it, Bouvier's departure from 343 Industries has to have been well thought out that it won't be detrimental to Halo Infinite's current state as a whole. The game, despite the still-relatively slow trickle of new content, is very much alive - specifically its multiplayer component.
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For one, 343 is bringing a new limited-time event called the Alpha Pack, which Windows Central says will give players new cosmetic items to get their hands on. As part of Season 2: Lone Wolves, the event begins July 19th (basically just about now) and ends by August, meaning players have two weeks from the time of this writing to participate.
Aside from the Alpha Pack event, 343 is also test-flighting the long-awaited Campaign Co-Op mode. According to Dexerto, the beta is currently already live and ready for new signups on both Xbox consoles and PC. There's still work to be done on Forge Mode as well, so the development team still has their hands full even if Bouvier has already left.
Related Article: What If Halo Was A Mac Exclusive? Here's A Bit Of Alternate History
This article is posted on GameNGuide
Written by RJ Pierce
