Microsoft and industry veteran Bonnie Ross announces her retirement today, intending to focus on family as 343 Industries prepares to restructure her leadership roles.
Bonnie Ross has worked within Microsoft’s games business for the better part of three decades, working on franchises like Gears of War, Alan Wake, and even third-party publishing deals on titles like Jade Empire and Mass Effect. . Most famously, she took the reins of 343 Industries after pitching her vision for Halo, in a Microsoft corporate climate that made the franchise seem like it was in decline. Under 343 Industries, Ross and his team have collaborated to ship several acclaimed Halo products, including Halo 3: ODST, Halo Reach, Halo Anniversary, Halo Spartan Assault/Strike, and Halo Wars 2.
“After more than 28 years in gaming at Microsoft, including 15 years leading 343 Industries and Halo through its most ambitious stages, Bonnie Ross will be leaving Microsoft and spending more time with her family. We are grateful for his leadership of 343 where the team launched Halo 4, Halo 5, Halo: The Master Chief Collection, the Halo TV series and Halo Infinite. We wish him all the best. Production manager Pierre Hintze will become studio manager with immediate effect. Team 343 is hard at work delivering the Winter Update, Halo Infinite’s biggest update since launch.
What do you want to know
- Bonnie Ross led 343 Industries and the Halo franchise at Microsoft for 15 years, having worked for the company for the past 27 years in and around Xbox.
- Halo is a sci-fi franchise set in the distant future where humanity is fighting for survival against various alien factions.
- Halo Infinite has received critical acclaim, but Microsoft is restructuring 343i’s leadership to better position the game for the future of its live service.
Bonnie Ross’ 343i also built Halo: Master Chief Collection, which ambitiously ported multiple Halo games into a single property. The task was gargantuan and launched in a less than polished state, but the following years of investment made it a truly stellar title. Opposite of the spectrum, Infinite Halo launched with the series’ highest Metacrit score to date, but its live service has left fans clamoring for faster content delivery.
To that end, Microsoft also announced that the management team is undergoing something of a restructuring, splitting the role of Bonnie Ross into three parts to better serve the franchise’s growing footprint, which now includes a TV show and more. multimedia projects.
Studio veteran and head of production Pierre Hintze will become 343i’s head of studio effective immediately, leading the studio’s ongoing development of Halo Infinite and The Master Chief Collection, as well as future games. The management team will expand with new roles, including Bryan Koski who will become GM of Franchise, and Elizabeth Van Wyck who will oversee business and operations.
Bonnie Ross noted on her Twitter feed that she hoped to stay with 343 Industries to complete the update launch, but a family medical issue pushed her plans forward.
In November, Halo Infinite will pick up its biggest content package yet, dubbed The winter updatewhich will include powerful Forge map-making tools and cooperative campaign play.
Halo Infinite’s campaign is available to play on Xbox Game Passand Halo Infinite multiplayer is completely free on Xbox consoles and PC.