Halo art director leaves after 17 years with cryptic message suggesting it was on bad terms

An art director who worked on the Halo series for 17 years has left Halo Studios, posting a curious message suggesting there was more to his departure than meets the eye.

Glenn Israel joined Bungie (when it was still working on Halo) in 2008, then moved to 343 Industries in 2010 to continue working on the series.

He’s since served as a concept artist and senior concept artist on the series for 17 years, his first credit being on Halo 3: ODST.

However, in a statement on his LinkedIn page, Israel announced that he was leaving the developer, now known as Halo Studios, stating that he would shed more light on the situation in the future.

“As of today and after 17 long years, I am officially no longer contributing to the Halo universe,” Israel’s message reads.

“There is little more I can say for the moment, though I intend to share this particular story in its entirety when it is absolutely safe to do so next year. In the meantime, I have a message for anyone and everyone who needs to hear it.

“I know that the state of our industry seems dire, but never forget that you are free to choose. No illusion of security nor promise of wealth or fame or power is worth trading away your health, your dignity, your ethics or values – and no one can force you to. Stay strong, take evidence when necessary, and find where you belong.”

Israel didn’t give any further details on what happened to cause his departure, but his message suggests he will be free to do so sometime in 2026.

Halo Studios recently announced that it will be hosting a panel on October 24, during the Halo World Championship, where it will take a look at the future of the FPS series.

Halo’s director of competitive engagement Tahir Hasangjekaj described the discussion as “a deep dive panel planned for the Community Stage that you won’t want to miss”.

At last year’s Halo World Championship, the developer formerly known as 343 Industries announced its rebranding, and that it was working on multiple Halo games developed within Unreal Engine 5.

The last mainline game in the series, Halo Infinite, was released in 2021. The game was originally planned to launch alongside Microsoft‘s Xbox Series X console and was even featured on much of the launch marketing for the console, but it was ultimately delayed.

While the game was met with a warm critical response for its innovative take on the single-player Halo formula, the multiplayer portion of the game failed to retain a large player base.