One of the longest-standing Halo developers--art director Nicolas Bouvier AKA "Sparth"--has left the Halo team and Microsoft entirely. Sparth said on Twitter that after nearly 14 years working on Halo, he has decided to leave to pursue other opportunities outside Microsoft and developer 343.
"It's been a hell of a ride, loved every minute of it," Sparth said. "Wishing the absolute best to 343, you guys are and always will be amazing."
All good things come to an end. After close to 14 years on HALO, I have decided to pursue other opportunities outside Microsoft and 343 Industries. It's been a hell of a ride, loved every minute of it. Wishing the absolute best to 343, you guys are and always will be amazing. pic.twitter.com/6mmQtvLTW7
— sparth (@nbsparth) July 18, 2022
Sparth started at Microsoft in 2009 and was the lead concept artist on Halo 4 and Halo 5. He then became art director, eventually working on Halo Infinite. In January 2022 he was promoted to Senior Art Director, a position he held for seven months until leaving the company this week.
Before Microsoft, Sparth was a senior concept artist at Ubisoft where he worked on the original Assassin's Creed. He later moved to id Software to become a senior concept artist for Rage.
Sparth got an education at the ENSAD (Ecole Nationale Superieure des Arts Decoratifs) school in Paris, and his first professional gig was drawing detailed medical illustrations, according to a 343 "employee spotlight" feature focused on Sparth.
The Halo Infinite development team has lost a handful of big-name developers since the game shipped. Before Sparth, Halo Infinite's head of design, Jerry Hook, left to start a new studio with NetEase.
Before that, Halo Infinite multiplayer designer Andrew Witts left the team to join Epic games to work on Fortnite as a lead gameplay designer. Turnover in any field is normal and expected, and there is nothing we've seen or heard so far that suggests Halo Infinite is in any trouble. Not only that, but we've seen numerous instances of developers shuffling between studios recently, as companies compete to acquire talent as part of a phenomenon some are calling "The Great Resignation."
Halo Infinite launched in 2021 and had a strong start, but since then, fans have been calling for more content to help make the game's multiplayer worth returning to. For its part, 343 has acknowledged that fans are out of patience, but the team is intentionally releasing updates slower for the time being.
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