Draft:Steve Cotton

Halo Multiplayer

Steve started at Bungie in March, 2004 as a Multiplayer Environment Artist working on Halo 2 alongside Chris Carney & Max Hoberman. Their first project together was to create a new multiplayer map in an extremely tight timeline of 6 weeks to showcase Halo 2 multiplayer at E3 the following May. The map was called Zanzibar and it is widely regarded as one of the most iconic and influential maps in the Halo franchise.^[9]

During Halo 2 & Halo 3, Cotton became known for creating distinct, highly balanced spaces for competitive play, which are still considered staples of the Halo multiplayer experience. He is also known for focusing on the minutiae of map design such as movement and flow of spaces, precise weapon placements, and flag distances.^[10]

Cotton worked on many of the franchise's most iconic and "fan-favorite" multiplayer maps including Midship, Zanzibar, Sanctuary, Ascension, Coagulation, Beaver Creek, Stand Off, High Ground, Valhalla, The Pit, Guardian, Narrows, Waterworks, Colossus, Containment, & Ghost Town.^{[1][11] [12]}

Forge World

When Halo: Reach development began, Cotton became more involved with single player campaign missions, delivering Nightfall, a rare stealth mission in Halo, and Tip of the Spear, a massive UNSC assault on a major Covenant structure. Late in development, Cotton was tasked with delivering several multiplayer maps, but rather than create a small number of traditional maps, he proposed one single large map that would allow players to forge experiences on an unparalleled scale.^[13]

That map became Forge World, a massive, dedicated multiplayer map specifically designed as a "blank canvas" for players to forge their own creations. It allowed players to build custom maps across various environments—including a cliffside, island, and interior spaces—using a wide array of structures and objects.^[14]

Forge World became a principal differentiator for Halo: Reach, a source of a large amount of user generated content and custom games, and ultimately created a legacy for itself as one of the best things Halo has ever done.^[15]

Destiny, The Vault of Glass, & The Crucible

As Bungie transitioned from the Halo franchise to Destiny, Cotton became a Destination Lead responsible for new planets in Destiny. He began work on Venus and the Dreadnaught in 2011. Venus would become one of the shipping destinations in Destiny, while the Dreadnaught would eventually become the flagship destination for Destiny: The Taken King.^[16]

The slipping of the Dreadnaught destination into the Taken King allowed Cotton to work on the end game content for Destiny, the first ever FPS raid, The Vault of Glass. The raid required a unique, unprecedented blend of action spaces, puzzle mechanics, and boss fights in a console shooter. In a short 3 months, Cotton worked with Luke Smith and Dan Miller to concept, mass out, and stand up The Vault of Glass.^[17]

Every decision about the Raid became critical, not only because of the short time frame but because the potential it presented. Ahead of launch, Bungie went on record to say: "The Vault of Glass will be the most challenging experience that they'd ever created." Ultimately, The Vault of Glass wasn't special just for Destiny, it was a revolutionary activity for shooters. It became widely regarded as a premier, iconic Destiny experience blending stunning Vex atmosphere, engaging mechanics, and rewarding loot and was seen as critical to Destiny's long term success.^[18]

After The Vault of Glass, Cotton transitioned to Crucible Lead and worked on several individual Crucible Maps including Widow's Court, Pantheon, Bannerfall, & Cauldron.

Destiny won the prestigious Best Game award at the 2015 BAFTA Games Awards.^[19]

Destiny 2 & Forsaken

Cotton continued work on the Destiny franchise by working as World Experience Director on Destiny 2 and was part of the Destiny 2 Gameplay Premiere reveal event in Los Angeles, California, on May 18. 2017. Held at an airplane hangar in Hawthorne, the event featured the first major hands-on gameplay showcase sequel and was streamed live to over 650,000 viewers.^[20][21]

He followed up Destiny 2 as the Game Director on Destiny 2: Forsaken and worked directly with High Moon Studios, a partner studio working on Forsaken, to create the Tangled Shore and the Forsaken story missions, improving on the original prison break story by adding the death of Cayde and the subsequent revenge plot.^[22]

He also directed work on the Dreaming City with the team at Bungie. The Dreaming City in Destiny 2 was unique for being an evolving, endgame-focused destination that combined stunning, ethereal aesthetic design with a, then-novel, three-week curse cycle that changed the environment and revealed new secrets. It served as a dense hub for secrets, lore, and challenging content, including the Last Wish raid and Shattered Throne dungeon.^[23]

Destiny 2: Forsaken was critically acclaimed on its release (September, 2018), effectively pivoting the game back toward its hardcore hobbyist roots after a lackluster first year. Critics and players alike praised its darker narrative tone, the introduction of meaningful endgame systems, and the debut of the Gambit mode.^[24][25]

Marathon

In 2019, Cotton started work as a Creative Director on Marathon, an Extraction Shooter and reimagining of the original Marathon universe from 1994.^[26] Marathon released on March 5, 2026.^[27]