Just on the heels of last week's piece on Halo 4, Gamespot is reporting that their creative director Ryan Payton has left the project to form his own studio. He left stating that “The Halo I wanted to build was fundamentally different, and I don't think I had built enough credibility to see such a crazy endeavor through.”

Microsoft released an official statement:

“343 Industries has assembled an all-star cast of talent working on Halo 4 under the design leadership of Studio and Halo 4 creative director, Josh Holmes. We're excited to tell the next story in the Halo universe with Halo 4 as the first game in the Reclaimer Trilogy. Ryan Payton, who left earlier this summer, served as narrative designer on Halo 4 for 15 months. Armando Troisi was hired as the Halo 4 narrative director in March, having formerly served as the lead cinematic designer on Mass Effect 2. Ryan has been a great friend and colleague during his tenure at 343 Industries and we appreciate his contributions to the team. We wish Ryan the best in his new game development venture.”

This isn't a good sign. Considering Payton's involvement with Metal Gear Solid 4 I can only assume that the guy knows how to properly tell a story. Any time a creative part of a project is pressured by studio heads it often ends badly for the project. It happens all the time with studios in Hollywood, it's sad to see it happen in the much more open-minded gaming industry. It seems like what Payton wanted to do with the series was try something new, which would only be good for a series that isn't particularly famous for it's storyline. I guess this is good news for fans wanting the same structure for their games, but bad news for others hoping for something fresh. I guess it's bad news for me...