Working on ‘Halo Infinite’ a dream job for game designer

It seems like working on Halo Infinite was a matter of destiny for game designer Fernando Reyes Medina.

Medina, who grew up in Mexico, spent countless hours playing “Halo” with his friends and at gaming cafes. But it wasn’t until one of the café owners turned to Medina and his friends to help him set up what was then a new service — Xbox Live — that the destiny truly revealed itself. When Medina and his friends tried playing online for the first time, he knew what he wanted to do.

“That was my eureka moment,” Medina said. “That was the moment when I was like, this is awesome. How is it that we are playing with players from all over the world? I identified the power of connection of games. That was such a revelation for me. That’s what motivated me to pursue a career in game development.”

Not just any game. Medina wanted to work at 343 Industries and help develop a new “Halo” game.

“Of course, that’s easier said than done,” Medina said. “I’m a 16-year-old who doesn’t speak English and I don’t know anything about how to make games. How does this happen?”

Quicker than almost anyone could imagine.

Medina learned English and started studying coding. While he was in college, he did three internships with Xbox before being offered a job at Xbox in 2016. Medina was having a blast and figured this may be as close to working on a “Halo” game as he was going to get. Things were about to change in a big way, however.

Xbox held a hackathon, essentially an internal project where participants work on a project for a set amount of time and share it.

Medina formed a group and produced a multiplayer “Halo” game in the vein of “Super Smash Bros.”

“I just thought I’ll make a little ‘Halo’ game and cross it off my bucket list,” Medina said.

But, it wasn’t long until Medina had a chance to pitch his game to the leaders of 343.

“Pitching your own ‘Halo’ game to the creators of ‘Halo,’ that was a bold move,” Medina said. “I felt a certain degree of satisfaction.”

Things were about to get better. A few weeks later, Medina received a phone call, and 343 Industries offered him a job. Medina was ready to live his dream.

“Halo Infinite,” originally slated for release in 2020, was delayed until 2021. Medina serves as a multiplayer game designer on Infinite.

“We want to be respectful of the legacy that the games have created and try to make the best video game possible,” Medina said.

A big part of the “Halo” experience is the multiplayer where Medina said the team is crafting an experience that will be just as fun as it was the first time you played.

“The biggest challenge for a multiplayer game from a game design perspective is it has to be fun the first time you play it, the hundredth time you play it and the thousandth time you play it,” Medina said. “It should be something where you just get it the first time you play it, but then you have to add that depth. I think that’s partly why ‘Halo’ is successful.”

Fans may have been disappointed when “Halo Infinite” was delayed to 2021, but Medina said there’s plenty to be excited about.

“We all love games,” Medina said. “We have a great team and I’m excited about what we have.”

Contact Lukas Eggen at leggen@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0279. Follow @lukaseggen on Twitter.