josephstaten
Joseph Staten

Joseph Staten, a design director who worked on several Halo titles, is coming back to Microsoft.

Staten spent the past 15 years with Bungie, the Bellevue-based studio that Microsoft acquired in 2000 and then split from in 2007. He was the lead writer for the company’s highly-anticipated Destiny game before departing last September, saying that he was “leaving to tackle new creative challenges.”

Now we know where those challenges will be tackled, as Staten has joined forces with Microsoft again as the senior creative director on the Xbox team. 

Here’s a tweet from Xbox studio manager Mike Ybarra:

Staten contributed to a number of successful games during his time at Bungie. He was the lead writer and cinematics director for Halo, Halo 2 and Halo 3: ODST.

We reached out to Microsoft to find out what Staten’s new gig will entail, and here’s what the company shared with us:

We’re thrilled to welcome Joseph back to the Microsoft Studios family. Over the past 15 years at Bungie, Joseph has been a key creative force behind some of gaming’s most iconic and celebrated franchises, including “Myth II,” “ONI” and virtually every “Halo” game leading up to “Halo: Reach.” Most recently, he spent the last four years working as a writer and creative director on the highly anticipated “Destiny.” As a senior creative director, Joseph will help create the world’s best entertainment on Xbox.

As a senior creative director, Joseph will help create the world’s best entertainment on Xbox, as well as help shape our franchise strategy for some Microsoft Studios titles. He’ll also be one of our leading ambassadors to the game development community, building on his many years of experience and relationships with developers and fans. We’re excited to share more about Joseph’s role in the future.

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