Halo Infinite boss Bonnie Ross has announced plans to step down from her leadership post at 343 Industries, the multiplayer game development studio she helped found and has led for the past 15 years, in order to attend to a medical issue with her family. Ross made the announcement September 12 on Twitter.
“While I had hoped to stay with Halo until we released the Winter Update, I am letting you know I will be leaving 343 and attending to a family medical issue,” Ross writes. “I am incredibly proud of the work everyone at 343 Industries has done with Halo Infinite, the Master Chief Collection, the Halo television series, and so much more.”
Ross has headed up Microsoft’s Halo team since 2007, when Ross helped form 343 Industries to take over the Halo franchise from Bungie, which had originally created the Halo series and was parting ways with Microsoft.
By that time, Ross had been working at Microsoft for 13 years, contributing work to series like Gears of War, Alan Wake, and more, as Windows Central notes.
“It has been an honour to serve alongside the team for the last 14 years and to be a part of a universe that I love,” she writes. “Halo’s future is bright. I cannot wait for all of you to experience what we have in store – and to cheer alongside you, as a fan, at the Halo World Championship in October!”
Ross is leaving 343 Industries at a tense time for Halo. Halo Infinite saw major delays before launch, and arrived without several promised features. Recently, the studio announced that it had scrapped plans for split-screen local co-op, a feature Ross previously said would never be missing from another Halo game. According to the updated Halo Infinite roadmap, Season 3 has been delayed until March 2023.