Josh Holmes is a Canadian video game producer and designer originally from Vancouver, British Columbia.
[4] His passion for storytelling was demonstrated when he worked on NBA Street as the lead designer, ensuring that even a sports game had a plot.
[12] One of Holmes' favorite aspects of Reach was the "melancholy feel you had that you were understanding the stakes of the challenge and things weren't necessarily going to end up all rosy".
Early on, Holmes recalled that the developers created a slice of the game that was almost an imitation of Bungie's work on Halo, and the team decided to move beyond that to try new things.
[14] Holmes described his design philosophy as making gameplay accessible to as many people as possible, including those who are new to established games such as Halo.
[16] An aspect of Halo 4's design that was preserved was the presenting of challenges to players, but not forcing it upon them and making the game linear.
[17] Holmes worked on introducing enemy cues and unique behaviors gradually and individually so that players had to fight creatively and effectively.
[17] Single player mode was imagined to be a training ground for multiplayer, and for success there to lead to continued membership in the Halo fan community.
Tim Longo took over creative director duties for Halo 5: Guardians, while Holmes served as a producer on the title.