User:Halo3224

Introduction
343 Industries, usually shortened to 343i, is an American video game developer located in Kirkland, Washington. It was established in 2007 by Microsoft Game Studios to oversee development of the Halo science fiction media franchise, which includes video games, novels, comics, and other multimedia content. Its name derives from 343 Guilty Spark, a character within the Halo universe.

Bungie
According to many posts from the Microsoft Official Blog and bungie.net; In 2007 after the highly successful release of halo 3, Bungie, the original developers of the Halo franchise, were able to purchase their independence from Microsoft and became their own development and publishing studio. The Halo IP (intellectual property) rights remained with Microsoft as well as a minority equity interest in Bungie. Even after the separation Bungie agreed to an additional development of two more Halo games. Halo3: ODST and finally Halo: reach. It is the intent of Bungie to still include Microsoft in new IP’s that will be created, and expanding to new platforms. Bungie studios will remain in Kirkland Washington.

Assembly
On April 29, 2010, Bungie announced that Halo: Reach would be their last Halo game, and that all future projects would be developed by 343i. During this transition, some Bungie staff members transferred to 343i, among them was Franchise Director Ian Lemoigne. Their first project was Halo Waypoint. Pandemic Studios was liquidated in November of 2009, a year later 20 previous members moved to 343i. In a tweet from 343i game designer Scott Warner stated “…the Pandemic layoffs of exactly one year ago did allow us to pick up close to 20 very talented developers.” According to an article from Blorg.com. Though 343i is going strong at over 200 members they still seek talented people in every aspect of game development.

Current projects
The company was also responsible for the redevelopment of Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary to celebrate the 10th year since the first franchise installment on the 15th of November 2001, the re-release includes additional story elements as well as heavily updated graphics the title was launched on the 15th of November 2011 the project was a joint effort by 343i, certain affinity, and saber interactive. The rerelease has a unique feature by comparison to other high definition remakes with the ability to switch at the push of a button from the original, untouched, graphics from the 2001 release to the high tech 2011 counterpart and vice versa instantaneously. This is due to the development within the studios of the ability to run both games simultaneously. Additionally, the studio was involved in the development of Halo Legends, a collection of animated short films based on the Halo lore. It is currently hiring via its website for the development of their first independent Halo game, Halo 4, which is confirmed to be the first title of a new Halo trilogy.,ref name=Parker>

Halo 4
Information from Microsoft’s’ official blog has announced that 343 industries, seeks to create a new trilogy in the halo franchise. This will be the first proper installment to the highly popular game series since 2007’s halo 3. Halo 4 was officially announced at the 2011 Electronics Entertainment Expo. Although In a statement from venturebeat.com a new site was accidentally launched, which inadvertently revealed the existence of an upcoming Halo game in development; three hours before Microsoft’s official E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) press conference where the announcement was supposed to occur. This development lost the company a great deal of momentum in the show proper. Information taken from a Game Informer article has stated that the company seeks to start a new chapter in the series dubbed the “reclaimer trilogy”. This will continue the story of master chief, the iconic main protagonist of the previous trilogy. Additionally that changes will be made to both of the main protagonists of the series master chief and Cortina in a quote from Halo 4 creative director Ryan Payton “Some necessary changes will be made to both Master Chief and Cortana in the natural evolution of the franchise.” as well as senior art director Kenneth Scott “The Chief you saw in the teaser is not the final Chief. We understand how important Chief is to this universe and the people who play him. We're probably on iteration number four right now. There's a lot of love and investment in making sure he's the best he can possibly be.” The title is currently set to release in quarter 4 of 2012 exclusively on the Xbox 360. (Update) In an article from PC Magazine Online it is stated that late in the development cycle of the upcoming game Halo 4; the creative direction Ryan Payton left 343i, this is to pursue creating his own independent development studio titled Camouflaj. Payton goes on to explain that his reason for leaving the project prematurely is "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.”

Halo waypoint
In an article from Kotaku.com 343i’s first project was Halo Waypoint, a downloadable application for the Xbox 360 and later the Windows Phone 7.this service is used as a place where players can track their accomplishments through the Halo series of games. This has added many RPG (Role Playing Game) elements to online play and stat tracking. This allows players to view and share their progress in great detail. The service is cloud based, meaning the information contained within the database is kept on many servers in large networks within the internet. This allows the information stored within to be accessed at anytime, anywhere, and protects the data from common forms of data loss such as mechanical hard drive malfunction. Waypoint is also used as a hub for meeting and connecting with other halo fans, as well as an independent media distribution service.

Downloadable Content
Since the departure of Bungie 343i has developed Halo: Reach's second map pack entitled "Defiant" in conjunction with Certain Affinity (Eaton).

Non Game Products
In an article from the Electronics Business Journal Microsoft in a contract with the Mega Bloks toy company in conjunction of 343i to manufacture a new line of toys and other memorabilia for the upcoming Halo trilogy in a statement from the chief innovation officer of Mega Bloks “Halo authentic Collectors Series is one of the toy Industries leading Properties.”.

An article from USA Today beginning with the (at the time) grand success of the installment of Halo3:ODST. Events then express the previously high profit margins of past Halo games and how profit has only gone up since the original Halo was realized on November 15, 2001. The article goes on to outline the upcoming release schedule for non game media based in the Halo universe including animated movies, comics, and fictional novels which expands on both the mythos and adds extended story details beyond what is provided in the games.