the bet of Netflix for video games it may be for the long haul, but that doesn’t mean it’s not making some very interesting strides. In the last few hours, for example, it was confirmed that the streaming platform has added to Joseph Statenwho until the beginning of this year served as creative head of Halo Infinite.
Staten, who was linked to the franchise Halo for 18 years, will be in charge of leading the development of a AAA game for Netflix. The details regarding it are scarce, although the manager himself indicated that it will be an original intellectual property, and that it will be a multiplatform title.
according to what posted on Twitter, Joseph Staten will be creative director of this new Netflix proposal. For now, it is unknown how long it will take to develop, nor has it been mentioned when it could reach the public.
It is worth clarifying, in any case, that it is not the first time that the development of an AAA game for Netflix has been mentioned. In November 2022, the company went looking for a director to take on the challenge of developing a top-tier title. The job search pointed to a person with more than 10 years of experience in the industry, who had already worked in first and/or third person shooters.
Will it be the same project that Joseph Staten is now joining? For now, it’s hard to know. Although the original project mentioned that the development of the title would focus on PC, and not on a multiplatform experience like the one mentioned by the ex-Bungie and Microsoft. Although we must not forget that Netflix was studying the possibility of launching its own video game service in the cloud, Stadia style. So today no possibility can be ruled out.
Netflix adds Joseph Staten, a talent with vast experience in Halo
Joseph Staten was especially involved in the development of the first three games in the franchise. Halo. In fact, it was the cinematic director both of the original title of 2001, and of its respective sequels of 2004 and 2007. In addition, he was the author of the novels Halo: Contact Harvestwhich was published in 2007, and Halo: Shadow of Intent2015.
During his tenure at Bungie, Staten was also involved in the development of destiny as scriptwriter and design director. However, he left the studio before the game was released to the public. In 2014, he joined Microsoft Studios and has since been involved as a writer on various projects for Xbox and Windows.
Before joining Netflix, Joseph Staten spent three years as a member of 343 Industries. There, he held the position of chief creative officer of Halo Infinite. In January, amid the studio’s controversial restructuring, he left the project to join Xbox Game Studios Publishing. However, at the beginning of April his departure from Microsoft was confirmed.
Netflix’s commitment to video games has had a rather meager start, but the project has very interesting edges. The streaming platform already has more than 50 games available, with a focus on mobile titles, and plans to launch another 40 during the current year. In addition, it is working on a platform that allows turning the television into a console and using the smartphone as a remote.