The projects second director Chris Lee quietly removed as fears grow for the game’s future.

Well, this isn’t good is it.

Ever since Halo Infinite’s craptacular gameplay demo was revealed back in the summer we’ve all suspected the game had some fundamental problems. In case you missed it, here’s the reveal in all its un-glory:

Poor lighting, horrendous pop-in, dull scenery and plasticky-looking textures are the most obvious aberrations here, as we highlighted in our previous article about the reveal.

Unsurprisingly, the poor reception the demo received has led to a developer rethink and the resulting delay to 2021 quickly followed – leaving Xbox Series X without its big launch title. They may be putting a brave face on it, but Microsoft must be massively pissed by all of this.

So much so it has now emerged that the game’s lead developer and director, Chris Lee, was quietly side-lined shortly after the gameplay premiere. A situation made doubly worrying given leading 343 Industries creatives Tim Longo (the game’s original director) and Mary Olson (executive producer) had also left the project a year earlier.

Chris Lee has been integral at 343 since it’s founding in 2008 and has worked on Halo projects dated back to then, with the position of partner studio head since 2016. In an emailed statement Microsoft said: “Chris Lee remains a Microsoft employee and while he has stepped back from Halo: Infinite right now, we appreciate all he has done for the project to date…”

To compensate for Lee’s unceremonious dismissal, Microsoft has brought in Joe Staten, a Halo veteran, to work on the single-player campaign and Pierre Hintze, a senior exec, to take charge of multiplayer.

If BioWare’s struggles with Mass Effect: Andromeda and Anthem, both of which lost leaders during their troubled development, is anything to go by, Halo Infinite could have serious issues for some time to come – the last thing Microsoft needs as it desperately tries to address the gap in output and quality between its first-party offerings and those of Sony for the PlayStation brand.

Would Bungie have cocked up this much with Halo? Personally, I doubt it. But at least we won’t have to pay to try this slow-motion train-wreck, as it’ll be on Game Pass from day one. A small consolation for us all.