Halo Infinite's multiplayer director departs 343 Industries

343 Industries' multiplayer director Tom French announced  his departure from the Halo Infinite developer via Twitter. Over the weekend, French wrote that he would "head off to new adventures. [...] I couldn't be more proud of my time at 343."

Per his LinkedIn, French "established creative vision" for Halo Infinite's multiplayer experience, which marked the franchise's first excursion into the free-to-play space. Though he'd been with the company since 2011, he stepped into his most recent role in 2016 after the release of 2015's Halo 5: Guardians. 

French's leaving follows a string of departures for 343 Industries in 2022. In September, its founder Bonnie Ross left due to a family emergency. The studio also lost its multiplayer lead Andrew Witts, art director Nicholas Bouvier, and design lead Jerry Hook. 

Going free-to-play wasn't a seamless transition for 343 or Halo Infinite. The multiplayer portion received its big Winter Update in November, which brought with it several highly requested features such as Campaign Co-Op and Forge Mode, both of which had to be cut from launch.

Shortly before the launch of the Winter Update, Xbox Games' Matt Booty admitted that Halo Infinite has struggled in its endeavors as a live-service game. However, he expressed optimism that 343 was now in a position to turn things around. 

"There's got to be a plan for regular continuing engagement, and we just fell short on the plan on that," said Booty in November. "We've just got to really get refocused around that sustained content plan and [make] sure we're bringing a regular update of content for players."