343 Industries has officially begun searching for a new Halo Infinite multiplayer playlist designer, according to a new Microsoft Careers job post.
The new position places a surprising emphasis on community forges. The posting mentions that the designer would be “working directly with Forgers”, and that their content could be included in official playlists.
This position was noted by @Mr_Rebs_, a longtime contributor in the Halo community:
Finding and adding more community forge content this way would likely generate more career paths. Creatives who build standout forges will have the unique opportunity to build relationships with existing 343 employees.
As a result, including standout community forgers could help build a new creative foundation for the next generation of Halo games.
This also potentially hints at a larger plan to improve general community engagement. That would be a smart move, since Halo Infinite had a rocky launch. Fan made content has helped in sustaining interest, and rebuilding goodwill.
That’s especially useful for larger franchises, and hopefully it signals an industry-wide wave of improvement. Some recent UEFN leaks for Fortnite also showcase better community involvement.
The new Halo Infinite playlist designer will also need to ensure that content “aligns with scheduled game events”. Adding community forges to broader game events would open a lot of doors. There could even be thematic prompts.
Community forges have always taken more creative risks. However, the playlist designer would work to “align” their content, likely reshaping it. So, it might have to resemble existing forges a bit more.
Fortunately, Microsoft’s new posting mentions the fresh hire would also need to “respond to player sentiment, support issues, and playlist health”. This implies fans could have a say in what forges actually show up down the line.
For more on the Halo franchise, you can read about some recent reports claiming that the next Halo game is in development.
