"The Flood are evil space zombie parasites and are not an allegory to any group of people."
While Microsoft remains silent on the matter, Halo co-creator Marcus Lehto and Halo 2 design lead Jaime Griesemer have lashed out against the US government’s usage of Halo IP in an advertisement promoting the Department of Homeland Security’s immigration enforcement agency, ICE.
The advertisement in question shows two UNSC soldiers in a Warthog, set against a Halo ring, with the caption, “Destroy the Flood”. In response to the advertisement, a Microsoft representative told PC Gamer, “Microsoft does not have anything to share on this matter.”
Lehto and Grisesmer — who both no longer work at Microsoft — say differently.
Speaking with GameFile, Halo co-creator and art director Marcus Lehto called the advertisement, “absolutely abhorrent … It really makes me sick seeing Halo co-opted like this.”
Jaime Griesemer, who worked on the original Halo and was a design lead on Halo 2, didn’t mince words.
“Using Halo imagery in a call to ‘destroy’ people because of their immigration status goes way too far, and ought to offend every Halo fan, regardless of political orientation,” Grisesmer said. “I personally find it despicable. The Flood are evil space zombie parasites and are not an allegory to any group of people.”
Conversely, Marty O’Donnell, the composer of the original Halo theme, leaned into the IP usage, taking to social media as part of a campaign to enter the US Congress.
“I will work with the Trump administration to destroy the Flood once and for all,” O’Donnell said in a post.
Shannon Loftis, former vice president of Xbox Game Studios, took to LinkedIn to voice her concerns of what she hashtagged as “ip infringement” and “fascism”, tagging Xbox head Phil Spencer and asking, “you good with this?”
Last week, Microsoft announced Halo Campaign Evolved, a remake of the original Halo’s campaign, which will be available on PC, Xbox, and PlayStation next year.
This article may contain affiliate links, meaning we could earn a small commission if you click-through and make a purchase. Stevivor is an independent outlet and our journalism is in no way influenced by any advertiser or commercial initiative.
