Joseph "Joe" Staten is the former lead writer and cinematic director at Bungie Studios. He had worked at Bungie since 1998 and left on September 24th, 2013.[1] He is now working at Microsoft Studios as a senior creative director.[2]
Background
A graduate of Nothwestern University's Theater Department,[3] Staten served as the cinematic director and writer for the Halo titles under Bungie's development, developing the missions and cinematics scripts. He authored the fifth Halo novel, Halo: Contact Harvest. Following Bungie's departure from the Halo franchise in 2010, Staten continued working with Bungie as the writer and design for Destiny. He left Bungie on September 24th, 2013, "to tackle new creative challenge".[1] On January 9, 2014, it was announced Staten has joined Microsoft Studios as senior creative director, taking part in the creation and management of Microsoft's intellectual properties and managing the studio's relationship to the game development community. However, he is not directly involved with the development of the next Halo game.[2]
Trivia
Staten is one of the voice actors for the Grunts in Halo trilogy. He also voiced the Superintendent in Halo 3: ODST.