Halo Infinite developer 343 showed off the campaign for the first time in over a year this week – and in doing so revealed the infamous Brute dubbed Craig has received quite the glow-up.
Microsoft’s reveal of Halo Infinite’s campaign last year went so badly it delayed the game to this Christmas, and part of the negative reception had to do with the flat visuals. A closeup of a Brute enemy dubbed Craig by the Halo community became an instant meme – and to be fair developer 343 subsequently leaned into it.
After this week’s re-reveal of the Halo Infinite campaign, we saw Craig had received a makeover – and now sports a tidy beard on his chin.
Halo Infinite – Campaign Overview Watch on YouTube
In a follow-up blog post, character and combat director Steve Dyck spoke about the reaction to Craig and how the developers at 343 dealt with it internally.
“… the team has sort of a love-hate relationship with Craig,” Dyck said. “While it was fun to see the community gravitate towards Craig, he unfortunately represented some content and systems that were not ready for prime time in that demo.
“The positive outcome of Craig was that he was one of the factors in gaining some more time to finish work and get Brutes to a place where the team is happy with them.
“This is one of the many positive examples of 343 working with and aligning with the Halo community around expectations. Players who look hard enough will still be able to find some evidence of Craig in Halo Infinite, his spirit lives on!”
Bryan Repka, character art lead for Infinite’s campaign, declared: “Craig is in good hands, trust me!”
“He has gone through some changes, but I am here to say that he has glammed up. He is feeling very good about himself and has fit back in well with the rest of his Brute friends. He has also picked up a new hobby and has done well for himself. Long live Craig!”