The creative director for Halo 4, Ryan Payton, has decided to walk out on the development of Halo 4 and quit his position at developer 343 Industries. He said continuing with the series is a “crazy endeavour”.
“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 endeavour through,” Payton told gaming website Kotaku.
Payton was in charge of crafting the storyline for Halo 4 and was the lead on 343’s creative team which included developing the fictional Halo universe for the forthcoming trilogy.
“I never thought I’d get to a point where I was so drained. That was when I knew I had to do something else.” Payton was previously diagnosed with severe depression.
“I think time is the most valuable thing we have and I’ve decided that I’m not going to waste one more day working on something that doesn’t speak to my values. 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,” Payton concluded.
Charlie Fripp – Consumer Tech editor
