Joseph Staten, one the original architects of Halo who came in late in Halo Infinite’s development process to help land that very important plane for Microsoft, has joined Netflix as the creative director of Netflix Games. He is building a new AAA multiplatform game and original IP.
“In my work life, there’s nothing I love more than collaborating with others to build worlds filled with iconic characters, deep mysteries, and endless adventures,” Staten told IGN. “So today, I’m thrilled to announce that I’ve joined Netflix Games as Creative Director for a brand-new AAA multiplatform game and original IP. Let’s go!”
This comes after Staten first shifted back to the Xbox Publishing role he’d been at prior to joining 343 Industries as Halo Infinite’s creative director following the recent shakeup at the Halo development studio, and then recently left Microsoft altogether. We now know that it was to join Netflix, who has quietly been building up its game development arm, acquiring talented developers like Oxenfree developer Night School Studio.
Staten was a “Grizzled Ancient” at Bungie, meaning he’d been at the studio for an incredibly long time. And in that time he wrote the original Halo trilogy and directed Halo 3: ODST. He was also the original narrative director on Destiny before he left Bungie to join Microsoft in 2013.
I saluted his accomplishments with the franchise in last week’s Unlocked column.
Ryan McCaffrey is IGN’s executive editor of previews and host of both IGN’s weekly Xbox show, Podcast Unlocked, as well as our monthly(-ish) interview show, IGN Unfiltered. He’s a North Jersey guy, so it’s “Taylor ham,” not “pork roll.” Debate it with him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan.
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