Joseph Staten, one of the key players behind the original Halo games, has joined Netflix to create a new IP.
The developer recently tweeted that he is now the creative director on a “brand-new AAA multiplatform game and original IP” at Netflix. While Staten had confirmed earlier this month that he had left Microsoft, we’re only now finding out where he ended up. No further details on the Netflix project were provided.
Staten is a major get for Netflix’s burgeoning games division, as he served as a writer and the director of cinematics on Bungie’s Halo games. After working on Destiny for Bungie, he left the company to join Microsoft proper as a senior creative director, writing the likes of ReCore and Crackdown 3. Microsoft would later bring him on to help 343 Industries ship the long-delayed Halo Infinite in 2020. However, Halo Infinite‘s post-launch support has been rocky, while 343 itself has lost a lot of staff, so it makes sense that Staten was looking elsewhere.
Netflix Games, meanwhile, is very much still in its infancy following a November 2021 launch. Currently, there are around 55 games on the platform, which are offered to Netflix subscribers at no additional cost. Last month, Netflix also confirmed that there are nearly 100 games in development for the platform, with 16, in particular, being made in-house.
As part of those first-party efforts, the company has purchased a handful of studios, including Oxenfree developer Night School Entertainment, while also opening one in Helsinki, Finland. Netflix is also early in development on a cloud service that would bring its game to other platforms its service supports, such as smart TVs. It remains to be seen how Staten’s game, specifically, will factor into Netflix’s broader gaming ambitions.
Image credit: Xbox
Source: @joestaten
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