Former 343 Employees Express Disappointment On Out Of Context Coverage For Halo Infinite Crunch Articles

For fans that continue to sit waiting for the highly-anticipated Halo Infinite, the fall 2021 release window cannot be here soon enough. And while there are monthly updates that continue to roll out via the orchestrated ‘Inside Infinite’ videos and blog posts, some players still find themselves still thirsting for more information. So whenever press rolls out for the game many users flock to learn more about the newest entry in the series.

However, despite the official statements from staff on behalf of 343 Industries, plenty of rumors continue to surface as they seep through the cracks. Enough so that the studio community director Brian Jarrard met a breaking point as he disclosed “real news” is the best remedy for the endless waves of supposed rumors that keep coming.

And by association, the same can now be said for the recent story that continues to linger around the game. In that, former 343 Industries artist Eric Yi Lin in a new video on YouTube went to express his disappointment on the reporting of crunch culture at 343 Industries as several outlets took his comments out of context.

So the reason I’m making this video – the one I’m doing right now – is that after the release of my previous video someone watch the video from billibilli decided to translate part of the video where I mentioned 343 and Halo; shared it on the forum, I think it’s ResetEra, and after that some of the game press decided to run a full-blown story based on that forum post.

So for the past two days people started to see articles like these. I got very upset: my purpose of that video is to encourage young artists who want to be in the game industry to go for it. If someone like me can do it, so can they.

In my video, I stated that I am feeling very grateful and blessed to do what I do and honesty I wish that was the story being shared because that was what I really wanted to say in that video. But instead that video turned into a former 343 employee accusing the company of crunching and when I saw those I had some minor panic attacks these [past] two days.

Lin continued by explaining being in distraught on how he might be viewed by former employer 343 Industries and future places of work for being a liability which sprouted from “people [who] took a few sentences out of the context of a fifteen minute-long video […] for clicks.” He continues by asserting he is not a direct source for details on Halo or the overall culture at 343 Industries.

Noted from the writings taken out of context, Lin was framed to be unhappy with his time at the Halo developer when in reality he shares that to be the complete opposite. “I was genuinely happy when I was at 343. If it was that bad, I wouldn’t stay for eight years,” he explains. “Were there rough days? Sure, most jobs have rough days.

“I stated in the video that I was very grateful to do what I do. People I know work very hard for the game because we care. I left 343 because it’s time for me to move on. The 343 baggage I was talking about is the fact that I will not [be] able to work another IP as long as I’m at 343. I want to try new things and with 343 I can’t and that’s fair because Halo is the only IP they are working on.”

I left 343 on a good term – there was no bad blood. I mentioned it in the video that I almost cried on my last walk in the studio because I am really, really going to miss the place and the people there.

Other statements that Lin references in the video is how much of what he said is not reflected from the stories that circulated following the misinformation catching the airwaves. Namely, how he short played the ambitions of 343 Industries and how he viewed the game to be executed as a full release.

This continues on his comment for his work being cut from the full release as well. While it is upsetting, Lin issues that it is part of the industry and others that offer entertainment as well. “That happens to almost every form of entertainment: movies, TV shows, events, and video games, you name it. […] This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone: while I didn’t make any of the decisions, we can all agree that it’s better to have a good, solid game without failures.”

Lin expands further to his statement on Halo Infinite not being a masterpiece by explaining that many games in this day in age are propped too high with expectations and should be simmered down to be realistic at launch. Especially being the first semi-open world release for the series, many players might not find what they hope for in the final version later this fall.

Even more, he also defends against how the press denounced the status of the Slipspace Engine and the improvements it made over time. “I stated in the video that the Halo engine is getting better every day; everybody’s working really hard on it. It can achieve amazing graphical result[s].” But the biggest caveat from the entire spin on his time at 343 Industries is what the news stories understood to be crunch culture.

This is what upset me the most. It is one sentence in a fifteen minute-long video which wasn’t even a point of the video and that got brought out to be the headline of these articles. I really need to clarify that I never said there was a constant crunch nor did I say I was forced to crunch in the video.

Everyone crunched for a different reason. Some could be the deadline sure, but many of us just want to go the extra mile to do the best we can. Sometime[s] an artist – like me – got into a zone and they just want to continue. I sometimes[s] got really into what I was working on and I forgot to eat and I was eager to finish while I got the momentum going; I didn’t want to stop the create juice from flowing.

Ultimately, what Lin originally tried to express upon his departure at 343 Industries resulted in a smear towards the developer and that was never his intentions. Again, he stated experiencing a pleasant time working at the team for nearly a decade and does not hold any grudges towards the studio now out of the door.

While unwavered stories were spun aimed at the work culture at 343 Industries, the developer in late April held its latest ‘Inside Infinite’. The monthly update issued new insight on how the studio tackles its pursuit to satisfy PC players as Halo Infinite is to launch for the first time on the platform. You can read the full report by heading here.

Are you upset with the news that targeted 343 Industries unfairly?

Halo Infinite is scheduled to release sometime in fall 2021 for Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.