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Joseph Staten, one of the core creative minds behind Halo, has joined Netflix as creative director for a new “AAA, multiplatform game” that will be based on an original IP.
Staten, who confirmed last week that he had parted ways with Microsoft after nine years, announced the change via Twitter.
“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 tweeted alongside confirming his new role.
Staten during his time at Bungie was hugely influential when it came to the story and worldbuilding of Halo, which would become Xbox’s first major franchise. He served as writer and director of cinematics for Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2, worked on Halo 3 and Halo: Reach as a writer, and served in a writer and creative director role for Halo 3: ODST. He’s also written one book and one short-story set in the Halo universe.
After serving in a co-creative director role on the first Destiny, Staten left Bungie and joined Microsoft as a senior creative director for Xbox Game Studios Global Publishing. He later returned to his Halo roots, joining Microsoft’s internal Halo development studio 343 Industries as head of creative in the lead-up to Halo Infinite’s release. He left 343 Industries to rejoin Xbox’s publishing team in January, following mass layoffs at Microsoft that heavily affected 343 Industries.
Netflix has recently made big investments in the gaming space, with the streaming giant confirming back in October 2022 that it had 55 games in active development. Netflix owns five internal game development studios, one of them being Oxenfree developer Night School Studios. Netflix is also building studios from scratch, including a game studio in Finland and another in California led by Chacko Sonny, who previously worked on Blizzard’s Overwatch and Sony’s God of War.
For now, Netflix’s game offerings are included as part of the streamer’s standard subscription, and have largely been focused on mobile ports of games like Into the Breach and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge, which are accessible through the Netflix mobile app. However, Netflix has teased that it is considering its very own cloud gaming service as well.
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