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343 Industries: Difference between revisions

From Halopedia, the Halo wiki

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*[[Frank O'Connor]] - Franchise Development Director, formerly an employee of [[Bungie]] <ref>[http://www.flickr.com/photos/8bitjoystick/3417529978/ Frank O'Connor's Business Card]</ref>
*[[Frank O'Connor]] - Franchise Development Director, formerly an employee of [[Bungie]] <ref>[http://www.flickr.com/photos/8bitjoystick/3417529978/ Frank O'Connor's Business Card]</ref>
*[[Kevin Grace]] - Managing Editor <ref>[http://www.tobiasbuckell.com/2009/10/27/halo-evolutions/ - Halo: Evolutions at Tobias Buckell Online]</ref>
*[[Kevin Grace]] - Managing Editor <ref>[http://www.tobiasbuckell.com/2009/10/27/halo-evolutions/ - Halo: Evolutions at Tobias Buckell Online]</ref>
*[[Jonathan Goff]] - Community Manager <ref name="Nelson"/>
*[[Dan Ayoub]] - Executive Producer <ref>[[Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary Exclusive|'''''Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary'' Exclusive''']]</ref>
*[[Dan Ayoub]] - Executive Producer <ref>[[Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary Exclusive|'''''Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary'' Exclusive''']]</ref>
*[[Jeremy Patenaude]] – Content Creator (Formerly of [[Ascendant Justice (Blog)|AscendantJustice.com]]) <ref name="Nelson"/>
*[[Jeremy Patenaude]] – Content Creator (Formerly of [[Ascendant Justice (Blog)|AscendantJustice.com]]) <ref name="Nelson"/>
*[[Jacob Benton]] – Content Creator (Formerly of AscendantJustice.com)<ref name="Nelson"/>
*[[Wikipedia:Corrinne Yu|Corrinne Yu]] - Principle Engine Programmer <ref name="kotaku"/>
*[[Wikipedia:Corrinne Yu|Corrinne Yu]] - Principle Engine Programmer <ref name="kotaku"/>
*[[Chad Armstrong]] - Designer, formerly an employee of Bungie <ref>[http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=26149228&postcount=104341 '''NeoGaf''': ''View Single Post - Halo: Reach |OT3| This Thread is Not a Natural Formation'']</ref>
*[[Gabriel Garza]] - Artist <ref name="evo">'''[[Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe]]''', ''About the artists''</ref>
*[[Gabriel Garza]] - Artist <ref name="evo">'''[[Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe]]''', ''About the artists''</ref>
*[[Nicolas Bouvier]] - Artist <ref name="evo"/>
*[[Nicolas Bouvier]] - Artist <ref name="evo"/>
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*Tom French - Missions Designer<ref name="Working at 343"/>
*Tom French - Missions Designer<ref name="Working at 343"/>
*Maggie Oh - Senior Technical Artist<ref name="Working at 343"/>
*Maggie Oh - Senior Technical Artist<ref name="Working at 343"/>
*Kynan Pearson - Lead Multiplayer Level Designer<ref name="Working at 343"/>
*Nicholas 'Sparth' Bouvier - Lead Concept Artist<ref name="Working at 343"/>
*RJ Ranola - Environment Artist<ref name="Working at 343"/>
*RJ Ranola - Environment Artist<ref name="Working at 343"/>
*Patrick Gillette - Gameplay Animator<ref name="Working at 343"/>
*Patrick Gillette - Gameplay Animator<ref name="Working at 343"/>
*Vic DeLeon - Lead Mission Artist<ref name="Working at 343"/>
*Kathy Gehrig - Associate Producer<ref name="Working at 343"/>
*Kathy Gehrig - Associate Producer<ref name="Working at 343"/>
*Armando Troisi - Narrative Director<ref name="Working at 343"/>
*Armando Troisi - Narrative Director<ref name="Working at 343"/>
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*Justin Korthof - Community Manager <ref>[http://twitter.com/SixOkay Twitter.com - SixOkay]</ref>, now working at Robot Entertainment.
*Justin Korthof - Community Manager <ref>[http://twitter.com/SixOkay Twitter.com - SixOkay]</ref>, now working at Robot Entertainment.
*Ryan Payton - Creative Lead;<ref>[http://twitter.com/#!/ryanpayton '''Twitter''': ''Ryan Payton'']</ref> Narrative Designer for ''Halo 4'',<ref name="GI"/> left in Summer 2011, now the founder of [http://kotaku.com/5837475/halo-creative-director-leaving-halo-4 Camouflaj].
*Ryan Payton - Creative Lead;<ref>[http://twitter.com/#!/ryanpayton '''Twitter''': ''Ryan Payton'']</ref> Narrative Designer for ''Halo 4'',<ref name="GI"/> left in Summer 2011, now the founder of [http://kotaku.com/5837475/halo-creative-director-leaving-halo-4 Camouflaj].
*[[Jonathan Goff]] - Community Manager <ref name="Nelson"/>, now working at Bungie.
*Kynan Pearson - Lead Multiplayer Level Designer<ref name="Working at 343"/>, left in June 2013.
*[[Jacob Benton]] – Content Creator (Formerly of AscendantJustice.com)<ref name="Nelson"/>, left in April 2013, now a designer at Bungie.
*[[Chad Armstrong]] - Designer, formerly an employee of Bungie <ref>[http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=26149228&postcount=104341 '''NeoGaf''': ''View Single Post - Halo: Reach |OT3| This Thread is Not a Natural Formation'']</ref>, now working at Crystal Dynamics.


==Sources==
==Sources==
<references/>
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[[Category:Companies]]
[[Category:Companies]]

Revision as of 09:51, June 6, 2013

Template:SeeWikipedia

343 Industries logo (transparent black).png

343 Industries, commonly shortened to 343i or 343, is a subsidiary of Microsoft Studios located in Kirkland, Washington. It is tasked with overseeing the Halo franchise and creating new properties for the series. The team's name is a reference to 343 Guilty Spark, the monitor of Installation 04.

Background

Origin

Before the formation of 343 Industries in 2007, the Microsoft Game Studios Franchise Development Group (MGSFDG) was responsible for expanding Microsoft's video game franchises. A prominent example of their contribution in the Halo franchise would be book publication arrangement with book publishers, Ballantine Books and Tor Books.[1][2]

Establishment in 2007

Following the end of partnership between Bungie and Microsoft 2007, Microsoft sought to form an internal studio from its internal development group to oversee the future developments of the Halo franchise.[3] 343 Industries was established, with a number of Bungie employees having transferred to the internal studio, namely Frank O'Connor and Chad Armstrong (still keeping the number of ex-Bungie employees under five). To expand the internal team, 343 Industries hired several of its employees from the Halo community, including Jeremy Patenaude and Jacob Benton of Ascendant Justice and Jessica Shea of Hawty McBloggy.

343's first project was Halo Waypoint, a downloadable Xbox LIVE application developed in conjunction with Certain Affinity and released in 2009. Its content is also available on the official Halo website at Xbox.com. Certain Affinity also created the maps in the Defiant Map Pack, the first map pack to be released by 343.

343 Industries' first game release, Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, was developed in conjunction with Saber Interactive and released in 2011. Their next major project is Halo 4, the first game in a new trilogy.

In 2010, 343 released the first episode of their official podcast, entitled 343 Sparkast. After Bungie announced they would discontinue Halo-related Bungie Weekly Updates in July 7, 2011, 343 Industries started publishing the Halo Bulletin, a weekly writeup of Halo news.[4]

Approach to fiction

Although Halo "expanded universe" fiction has always shared the same continuity as the games, under Bungie's watch material from outside the games was generally regarded as ancillary and was rarely intertwined with the games in a significant way; references to the novels, for instance, rarely amounted to more than throwaway lines. An effort was made to keep different pieces of media as their own, self-contained "bubbles," so that they would not have a significant impact on other stories. For example, Frank O'Connor stated that the story of Halo Wars effectively exists in a bubble, having little bearing on the Halo story at large. According to O'Connor, this approach was "safer" from a development perspective, but it made many pieces of fiction seem extraneous or "disposable," as they had no crucial impact on one another.[5]

Circa 2008, however, 343 Industries adopted a new approach, deciding that all future media they released would be fictionally interconnected. This includes further integrating the fiction of the games and the novels into a seamless whole, with different pieces of media complementing one another in a meaningful way. Even though the main game series is still the primary focus of the studio, all other fiction has been stated to have a resonant impact on the games' stories in a way unlike before. For example, the novels of the Kilo-Five Trilogy and The Forerunner Saga have direct connections to the story of Halo 4 and the subsequent games.[5]

Projects

Upcoming and ongoing

Released

Known employees

Former

  • Justin Korthof - Community Manager [24], now working at Robot Entertainment.
  • Ryan Payton - Creative Lead;[25] Narrative Designer for Halo 4,[15] left in Summer 2011, now the founder of Camouflaj.
  • Jonathan Goff - Community Manager [6], now working at Bungie.
  • Kynan Pearson - Lead Multiplayer Level Designer[22], left in June 2013.
  • Jacob Benton – Content Creator (Formerly of AscendantJustice.com)[6], left in April 2013, now a designer at Bungie.
  • Chad Armstrong - Designer, formerly an employee of Bungie [26], now working at Crystal Dynamics.

Sources