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Credit: 343 Industries

New Halo boss

343 Industries Founder Bonnie Ross steps down




Bonnie Ross, the head and co-founder of 343 Industries studio has announced that she’s leaving the Halo developer.

Ross, the Halo Lead, will part ways with Microsoft and 343 after 15 years at the helm.

In a Twitter post, Ross explained that she’s stepping away from the company to attend to a family medical issue.

While she’d initially planned on staying until the release of Halo Infinite’s winter update, scheduled to arrive on November 8, it seems as if her plans have changed.

Ross acknowledged her colleagues and their work on Halo Infinite, the Master Chief Collection, as well as the Halo television series. She leaves behind nearly three decades of experience in the gaming industry.

After starting out as a technical writer, she decided to move to more creative projects and was the lead behind games such as Psychonauts, Gears of War, and Zoo Tycoon, to name a few.

She kept the faith in the Halo franchise when her colleagues were willing to give it up as a lost cause, wanting to contract an outside company to produce new games when Bungie split from Microsoft in 2007.

343 Industries

Overseeing Halo

Ross was then placed in charge of a new internal team to oversee the Halo project, and that was how 343 Industries came to be – and the Halo franchise has never looked back.

The original Halo trilogy led to spin-offs and alternative reality games, growing so big that it branched into other mediums – books, graphic novels, and a television series, among others.

343 Industries

Since taking over 343, Ross has overseen the development of several projects like Halo 4, Halo 5: Guardians, Halo Infinite, Halo: The Master Chief Collection, and too many more to name.

Her groundbreaking vision and work in the game industry led to her induction into the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame in 2019.

Ross has also been an advocate for inclusion and empowerment, working actively to hire more female game developers, and bringing racial and gender diversity to their video games.

Nikhil Kalro writes about a broad variety of subjects, including in the world of gaming, where his greatest interest might be in League of Legends. He also has a strong interest in sports betting, including specifically in esports. His traditional sports interests include soccer, basketball, football, and tennis. He has a background and further interest in mathematics.