Matt Booty’s celebration of Xbox’s 25th anniversary drew criticism from former Halo art leads, who used the comments beneath his LinkedIn post to challenge his handling of the studio. Screenshots shared by Rebs Gaming on November 14 show Glenn Israel, Justin Dinges and Josh Rife responding to the Xbox chief content officer’s praise for its development teams.
Israel, credited as art director on Halo Infinite, accused Booty of protecting Pierre Hintze and ignoring alleged workplace and contract violations despite being contacted personally. His comment also alleged deteriorating morale at the studio, ending with the question: “Why should we trust you now?”
Former 343 Industries art director Dinges challenged Booty over job cuts, asking: “Didn’t you just lay off most of Halo Studios?” Rife, whose portfolio lists a world art lead role on Halo, dismissed the executive as “Nothin’ but a suit.”
Booty’s original post celebrated the teams working on Xbox’s long-running franchises. He highlighted the newly announced Firefight update for Halo: Campaign Evolved, alongside developments for Fable, Doom and Wolfenstein.
Halo’s Next Game Has Already Changed Hands
In a September 22 memo, Booty announced 268 job cuts across Halo Studios, other first-party developers and Xbox’s management and central functions. Microsoft did not give a separate Halo Studios figure in that announcement.
The same memo assigned development of the next Halo title to a new, purpose-built team at Activision, separate from its Call of Duty work. A smaller Halo Studios team would continue supporting existing games and the community.
That remaining work includes a free winter Firefight update for Halo: Campaign Evolved, announced November 12. It will add four-player co-op, with more details planned for Halo Fest on December 12–13.
Official artwork: Halo Studios / Xbox.
