343 Industries Talks About Developing Halo and COVID-19

halo covid-19

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few weeks, you’ve no doubt heard of the global pandemic that is COVID-19. With multiple cities worldwide issuing social distancing protocols, and telling people to stay at home, that applies to studios as well. Halo studio 343 Industries has addressed this as well in their latest Waypoint.

Check out the letter in full addressed to the community below and what this means to the Halo franchise.

HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE

Before we do that though, I wanted to take some time to address the elephant in the room, COVID-19 (coronavirus). This virus has been dominating the news and has worked its way into almost every aspect of our lives. We are not immune to this global pandemic and we’re fully aware of the danger it poses to us as a individuals, as a team, and as part of the larger Seattle community.

As the situation began to take a turn for the worse in our area about two weeks ago, Microsoft and 343 leadership gave our studio guidance to work from home. Seeing as safety is the most important thing during a time like this, we took the advice and have been working from home ever since. It hasn’t been a vacation though, as every team is adapting and getting creative to make sure they can do their best from outside the studio. Both 343 and Microsoft’s leadership teams have been providing constant updates with how the COVID-19 situation is progressing, how our projects are progressing, and recommendations on how best to stay safe during these unprecedented times. 

What does that mean for MCC PC and Halo Infinite? We’re removing all the obstacles in our path and tracking well, but need to be mindful of our current limitations and understand that the coronavirus situation may get worse before it gets better. Rest assured that every single one of us is doing everything in our power to continue developing and delivering quality Halo experiences while we adjust to this new way of life.

Beyond all of that though, please remember that this is bigger than games and bigger than Halo. Practice social distancing whenever possible (like the Blue Spartans above who are staying an Elephant’s length away from each other), wash your hands, and do your best to keep it clean. We’re all in this together.

343 Industries has hit it right on the head. This (COVID-19) is bigger than games, and bigger than anything entertainment-related. There are human lives at stake, and it’s not worth risking that just to speed up development of our favorite video games.

Source: Halo Waypoint

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