While I can't comment on the conditions under which the original Halo trilogy was developed in, reading Blood, Sweat and Pixels [1] really gave a great glimpse into the shit-show that was happening behind the scenes during Destiny's development and why the end result was so ... disappointing. Matter of fact that entire book was a greatest hits collection of dysfunctional work environments, it really gave me perspective on what life is like as a dev in other domains (game industry).
[1] https://www.harpercollins.com/9780062651235/blood-sweat-and-...