Matt Booty is now the second-in-command at Xbox, responsible for all content created by the studio and Microsoft’s gaming division. In February’s changes, Phil Spencer and Sarah Bond left Microsoft and were replaced by Asha Sharma, the only one of the former Xbox leadership trio to retain their job. Insider Rebs Gaming, published in the context of recent massive layoffs at Halo Studios videowho addressed the situation and criticized Matt Booty.
What did Halo Studios do?
According to an insider, the studio had few mature games in production when the layoffs were announced this week. At the same time, we are developing remasters of Halo 7, Halo 2 and Halo 3, as well as a standalone game based on the novel Halo: First Strike. Studio head Pierre Hinz forced the team to take on multiple projects at once, and his idea was to release mini-games based on the books between mature releases.
For example, Hinz expects Final Strike: First Strike to be released in 2027. It’s supposed to be a story-based shooter with only 5 missions and a firefight mode. At the same time, the studio must also (including outsourcing experts) remaster Halo 2 and Halo 7 so that they can be released as soon as possible after First Strike. That said, just before last week’s layoffs, Halo Studios showed off the Halo 7 concept to Matt Booty and Xbox executives, which included campaign, PvP, PvE, and Forge on launch day.
Criticism by Pierre Hinz and Matt Booty
After the layoffs, Halo Studios has only about 30 employees left, including Pierre Hinz. In a video, a Rebs Gaming insider questioned the decision to have an expert lead such a problematic studio, and singled out Booty for his lack of responsibility for the team’s situation.
Someone should ask: Why is Matt Booty supporting and covering Pierre? Why wasn’t Matt brought to justice? Matt also didn’t take responsibility for Halo Infinite’s failure, although studio management did. Matt’s tenure at Xbox Game Studios was marked by many missteps.
[…] I heard Matt Booty allowed Pierre to stay and chose who to keep. Therefore, many of the people who stayed were from his inner circle. Hinze wanted to find a way to make smaller Halo projects and outsource remake development to outside studios, so he retained staff from multiple teams.
In late 2022, following the problems with Halo Infinite and the departure of Bonnie Ross, Matt Booty spoke openly about changing the leadership of 343 Industries and appointing Pierre Hinze. Booty also praised the Hinze team for their work on Halo: The Master Chief Collection, noting that they accomplished a large portion of the work on Halo.