Halo 3 online 'years ahead' of rivals - ex-Bungie dev

Certain Affinity's Max Hoberman says that Halo 3's Xbox Live features are "years ahead of everything that's out there".

Speaking exclusively to our sister site GamesIndustry.biz about the formation of his Austin-based studio, which is currently working on multiplayer maps for Halo 2, Hoberman also hinted at the levels of secrecy surrounding the project at his former employer, Bungie.

When he originally left Seattle, Hoberman was working remotely for the Halo developer. "Online, UI, planning... All sorts of stuff. I did that for a long time," he says. But that quickly became impossible as the game reached implementation. "They won't even let a build of Halo 3 leave the building," he says.

With a bit of help from Microsoft Hoberman was then able to set up Certain Affinity, whose multiplayer maps are due out this spring. The company is also working on a new, unannounced project. "We're prototyping it on the Xbox 360," says Hoberman - but he won't say much else.

For more on Hoberman's new studio and to read about what would drive a man to quit working for the foremost developer of console FPS games, check out the full interview: Bungie Jumping.