343 Industries

343 Industries is a video game developer owned by the American technology company Microsoft, and is located in Redmond, Washington. They are responsible for the Halo video game franchise after taking over from Bungie Studios.

Formation
Bungie was a video game developer working on their next project when Microsoft bought them in 2000. Halo: Combat Evolved, the game they were working on, turned into a launch title for Microsoft's Xbox console. Bungie and Microsoft never fit together very well. After the release of Halo 2, Bungie started trying to get better profit sharing for their next game, Halo 3. These discussions led to Bungie becoming independent from Microsoft in 2007. While Bungie was still had a contract to make new Halo games, Microsoft owned the franchise. Xbox general manager Bonnie Ross said that her coworkers thought Halo was a dying franchise and looked at contracting an outside company to make new games. Ross really liked the series, and she wanted a different approach. Ross' pitch convinced Microsoft Game Studios general manager Shane Kim, and she was put in charge of a new internal Halo studio, 343 Industries. The studio was named after the Halo character 343 Guilty Spark.

343 Industries started with roughly a dozen workers in late 2007. Bungie employee Frank O'Connor helped with the transition. He quit Bungie to serve as 343 Industries' franchise director. During the transition, 343 Industries worked with the company Starlight Runner to interview Bungie employees and put together a central story for the franchise. 343 Industries also worked with Bungie on their last Halo projects, Halo 3: ODST (2009) and Reach (2010). art director Kiki Wolfkill, who joined the team as a studio head. During the transition, 343 Industries worked with the company Starlight Runner to interview Bungie staff and compile a centralized story bible for the universe. 343 Industries also worked with Bungie on their last Halo projects, Halo 3: ODST (2009) and Reach (2010).

Games
 Year Game Platform(s) Notes 2011 Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary Xbox 360 Collaboration with Saber Interactive 2012 Halo 4 Collaboration with Certain Affinity 2013 Halo: Spartan Assault iOS, Microsoft Windows, Windows Phone, Xbox 360, Xbox One Collaboration with Vanguard Games 2014 Halo: The Master Chief Collection Xbox One, Microsoft Windows, Xbox Series X/S Includes Halo: Reach, Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, Halo 2 Anniversary, Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST and Halo 4 2015 Halo: Spartan Strike iOS, Microsoft Windows, Windows Phone Collaboration with Vanguard Games 2015Halo 5: Guardians Xbox One Halo 5: Forge was released on Microsoft Windows 2016 Halo Wars: Definitive Edition  Microsoft Windows, Xbox One Collaboration with Behaviour Interactive 2017 Halo Wars 2 Collaboration with Creative Assembly Halo Recruit Microsoft Windows Collaboration with Endeavor One 2018 Halo: Fireteam Raven Arcade Cabinet Collaboration with Play Mechanix and Endeavor One 2021 Halo Infinite Microsoft Windows, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S Collaboration with SkyBox Labs, Sperasoft, The Coalition and Certain Affinity

References

Category:Video game companies of the United States
Category:Halo