I want to offer my comments re: Bonnie Ross as I feel she is being characterized a bit too harshly.
I have respect for Bonnie. She stepped up to the plate and took on Halo when Microsoft was considering farming it out to Gearbox. Microsoft needs a proper studio to care for Halo, not just outsourced games. She had a long career at Microsoft before taking the lead role at 343. She's been involved in a number of successful game projects and I don't want to discredit that.
She has a lot of enthusiasm for transmedia and merchandise. I think that she has spent too much time focusing on that and not enough time tending for the narrative and the FPS titles-the two most fundamental components of the series. 343 has put out dozens of books, toys, live action features, animated features, a handful of spinoff games, and other licensed content. Meanwhile the core FPS series has faded from relevance in the past decade.
She also has some different views on gender than I do. I support and agree with her that there are opportunities for women to get involved in the industry. Where I disagree with her is the idea that Halo is exclusionary because it appeals predominately to men. No amount of additional women creatives will get more women interested in Halo. Similarly no amount of male creatives will get me interested in Twilight. Men and women gravitate to different types of media and that is ok. I see where this has bled into the game's stories which have attempted to add a new roster of Spartans to make the game more inclusive. There has also been a big focus on Cortana's sexuality and her relationship with Chief. Halo, and Chief by extension were never exclusionary. The brilliance of Chief is that nearly anyone can self-insert. We do not need 10 new Spartans that take away from Cheif's story to make sure that people feel represented by the game. Halo can make everyone feel included without having to become the Justice League. These new elements have not brought new fans into the series but they have alienated older fans.
I seriously hope the best for Bonnie and I appreciate the fact that she stepped up to manage Halo when nobody else would. I don't know what state the series would be in without her. I also support her efforts to get women involved in the industry-I think it is important that gaming grow to reach new audiences. With that said, I think that her talents (she is a talented individual and has a long career to prove it) would best be suited in another role at Xbox. I'm not going to point at her and say she ruined Halo. It's not that simple and she's not that singularly powerful.
I think there is a lot of talent at 343; it is just a matter of making sure that people's talents and passions are matched with their roles. That is where I believe 343 has dropped the ball and why we haven't seen Halo thrive in the past decade.