‘Halo Infinite’ writer leaves developer 343 Industries for Riot Games

One of the leading writers behind the recently released Halo Infinite, Aaron Linde, has announced he is leaving developer 343 Industries.

Linde – who had previously worked on another Xbox exclusive, 2011’s Gears of War 3 – made the announcement via Twitter on New Year’s Eve, saying he would “pursue a new opportunity in 2022”.

Bittersweet news to report: I’m departing 343 Industries to pursue a new opportunity in 2022. It was a terrifically difficult decision; Halo Infinite will remain one of the proudest achievements of my career for the rest of my life. I’m so grateful to have been a part of it.

— Aaron Linde (@aaronlinde) December 31, 2021

There doesn’t appear to be any bad feeling between parties, as Linde goes on to praise “my dear colleagues at 343 for making the best game I’ve ever worked on, our incredible voice cast for elevating our work in every single line delivery, and our players for joining us on this wild-ass journey. You made 2021 an incredibly special year for me.”

While Linde didn’t initially announce where he would be heading to next, an update today (January 3) revealed he would be moving to Riot Games R&D. Linde again announced the news via Twitter but in a humorous fashion, using a ‘next episode’ preview from the anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion and jokingly subtitling it with the career update.

Halo Infinite’s story-driven single-player campaign launched on December 8 2021, two weeks after the early access launch of the game’s multiplayer component. It was an interesting mirror of the first Halo game, 2001’s Halo: Combat Evolved, originally planned not to have a story mode. Two decades on, though, the series’ winding sci-fi narrative is now integral and will inspire the upcoming live-action TV series adaptation.

In other news, Escape From Tarkov players have been experiencing a week of problems, including login delays and in-game rewards not unlocking, due to ongoing server issues. The problems coincide with a series of Twitch drops that have increased demand, although developer Battlestate Games suggest the fault lies with targeted DDoS attacks.