No High Scores is reporting that Ryan Payton, one of the creative leads on Halo 4, has announced that he is leaving 343 Industries.
Payton joined 343 Industries from Kojima Productions where he worked on Metal Gear Solid 4. His move was so that he could be in the U.S. closer to his mother who was battling cancer. Payton also appears to have recently been diagnosed with depression, according to Giant Bomb.
In his departure announcement Payton said:
"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."
"I think time is the most valuable thing we have," said Payton, "and I've decided that I'm not going to waste one more day working on something that doesn't speak to my values."
I hope that Payton's statement reflects more of a personal choice and not an indication of creative troubles within 343. I imagine there are a fair amount of people very nervous about what 343 is going to do with one of the most popular game franchises out there, and this news can't be comforting to them.
