Though Halo 4 is still shrouded in mystery, it looks like 343 Industries’ new production may have hit a small bump in the road. Ryan Payton, one of the creative directors on the project, has left 343 and Halo 4 behind.
"I had a great run at Microsoft," Payton told Kotaku. "I don't regret one day of it. But after a few years, there came a point where I wasn't creatively excited about the project anymore. The Halo I wanted to build was fundamentally different and I don't think I had built enough credibility to see such a crazy endeavor through.”
Payton came to Microsoft from Konami’s Kojima Productions, where he worked on Metal Gear Solid 4, becoming the Western face for the game in the process. He also brought along MGS4 audio director Sotaro Tojima over to 343 to be the audio director for Halo 4.
Payton still believes Halo 4 will be a great title, but he was diagnosed with severe depression a few months ago and that became his sign that something was wrong. After watching Haunted Temple’s Jake Kazdal work on his labor of love, Skulls of the Shogun, Payton decided his future was in a different direction.
"For somebody who loves this industry as much as I do and know how lucky I've been, I never thought I'd get to a point where I was so drained," said Payton. "That was when I knew I had to do something else."
"Some people say I'm crazy, but I want to make a game that one billion people play at once, and it's something that hits them harder than a great book or film," he said. Payton’s new startup, Camouflaj, is already working on two new titles. He has no regrets about his time spent at 343 Industries though.
"I think time is the most valuable thing we have," said Payton, "and I've decided that I'm not going to waste one more day working on something that doesn't speak to my values."
