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Halo Infinite's lead producer Mary Olson departs from 343 Industries

Olson will head up production at Midwinter Entertainment following her departure from 343 Industries.

Brittany Vincent

October 15, 2019 12:50 PM

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Halo Infinite lead producer Mary Olson is leaving 343 Industries ahead of the game's official release.

GamesIndustry.biz reported the news, spotting the move by way of Olson's LinkedIn page. After spending over 7 years at 343 Industries, she'll be moving on to Midwinter Entertainment. Olson was only executive producer for Halo Infinite for two months following former creative director Tim Longo.

In an effort to quell concerns swirling on Reddit that something disastrous had happened at the developer or that something was happening with Halo Infinite, community manager John "Unyshek" Junyszek offered the there was "no creative dilemma" in the studio and therefore, "no writing on the walls."

"Tim’s role as Creative Director was to help make creative decisions around the design and direction of the game – whether it was campaign, multiplayer, etc. Mary’s role as an Executive Producer and then Lead Producer on Campaign was to help drive the game to its completion for our holiday 2020 release date – with the latter specifically focusing on campaign deliverables," wrote Unyshek.

"Unfortunately the thread’s title saying, 'He was replace with Mary Olson and she also left,' is far from accurate. It implies that Mary took over creative control of the entire game, didn’t like what she saw, and then decided to leave. If that’s what actually happened, I could totally understand getting worried – but that isn’t the case, as she was a Lead Producer and not a new Creative Director."

So while this may seem a concerning move at first glance, it's apparently not sign of a larger issue – you know, where there's smoke, there's fire. But really, as with all things, we'll have to wait and see.

"I'd like to reassure everyone that the entire Halo Infinite team is rallying behind the game and is working hard to make sure we can execute on its vision," the community manager concluded.

Halo Infinite is currently targeting a 2020 release date on Xbox One and PC.

Brittany Vincent

Senior Editor

Fueled by horror, rainbow-sugar-pixel-rushes, and video games, Brittany is a Senior Editor at Shacknews who thrives on surrealism and ultraviolence. Follow her on Twitter @MolotovCupcake and check out her portfolio for more. Like a fabulous shooter once said, get psyched!