Halo,Xbox’s flagship series for pretty much its entire run, has hit rocky and unfamiliar terrain during this latest generation of console.Halo Infinitewas not the hit Xbox expected it to be, proving Halo isn’t always a sure thing. However, it remains unlikelyMicrosoftwill turn to another studio, of which there are many under its growing umbrella, and ask them to take the Halo reigns.
That comes straight from the horse’s mouth as Microsoft’s game studio chief Matt Booty toldAxioshe and the team would be unlikely to hand Halo duties to a different studio. Booty was specifically asked if anActivisionstudio might help out with Halo should the acquisition eventually be allowed to go through, a valid question when you consider the ongoing success ofCall of Dutyand the multiple studios under the Activision banner that make that happen.
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“If something like that were to happen, it would have to come from the studios… It’s unlikely that we would come in and dictate that from the top,” Booty explained.343 Industriescontinues to work on Halo, but there have been wholesale changes at the studio after Infinite fell short of expectations.
There werea lot of layoffs at 343earlier this year. Even though it’s unlikely a new studio unfamiliar with Halo will wade in and help out, Booty does admit the team at 343 taking Halo forward isn’t the one that got it to this point. “I feel confident in the leadership team, but the team that got us here is probably not the same team that’s going to take us forward,” Booty said, adding even though cuts were a product of everything going on across the Xbox landscape, the smaller team now in place at 343 is more reflective of where Halo is right now.
Asking if an Activision studio might lend a hand or even take over Halo development is a good question to pose after the wayBungieoperates underPlayStationbecame a little more transparent. After no-showing the PlayStation Showcase, reports surfaced suggestingThe Last Of Us multiplayer project isn’t in a good place. Bungie, a studio with quite a bit of experience in the online multiplayer sphere, looked at theNaughty Dogproject and questioned what parts of it were designed with player retention in mind.
As for Halo, fans who have stuck with the series were hopeful they might see something from it atSummer Game Fest, but that didn’t happen. Understandable as even though Infinite’s seasons roll on, there’s likely a lot of discussion behind the scenes right now with regard to what’s next. Fans have even beendebating whether the series is in need of a reboot. Probably not a bad idea.
