This reminds me of the BioWare issues that plagued the studio for years. Changes in management, direction, and rumors of a very troubled development for Anthem - for example. It’s a shame what happened to BioWare so hopefully it doesn’t to 343. It seems that several of the development team were excited to show it off, and were devastated by the mockery from the press and general bad reception of the demo by the public. It’s genuinely terrible the ribbing that this game received from the press and social media.
Maybe 343 can recover from this, but I cannot help but see the similarities. They need to hunker down and present a finished product instead of a phased approach