This will either be a smashing success or one of the worst things to happen to the franchise. Microsoft is supposedly breaking up Halo from its longtime developers, 343 Industries, and handing over the development to a third party as Bethesda’s Starfield is set to become the company’s new cover brand.
If these reports are true, then the very future of Halo might be up in the stars (yeah, bad pun) as it seems like the franchise is being replaced for a younger, more modern game.
Okay, maybe I’m making this out to be more than a simple transition between one video game developer to another, but it seems very strange as to why Microsoft would take Halo away from the very game studio that successfully “held the fort” for one of the most classic video game franchises of all-time.
Sure, 343 Industries is no Bungie and never made Halo games as great as the originals, such as Halo: Reach, Halo 3, and Halo: Combat Evolved (the OG Halo), but it also wasn’t a complete trainwreck of a transfer as 343 Industries did produce Halo Infinite, which is widely seen as one of the best Halo games around.
Yet, if this report from Bathrobe Spartan (GameSpot article about leak linked), a well-known and generally respected Halo insider, is to be believed, then 343 Industries is getting unceremoniously shelved by its Microsoft overlords and the Halo franchise will be placed in the hands of a new, unspecified 3rd party.
I don’t know what 343 Industries has done to annoy Microsoft, but it must be something substantial as I just don’t understand the reasoning behind stripping the developer of its most famous and profitable IP. Unless, however, Microsoft is hoping to use 343 Industries for other projects that it believes will overtake Halo as the most recognizable “Microsoft-exclusive” game on the market.
Namely…Starfield.
Perhaps I’m going out on a very long and thin limb here, but there have been numerous reports and even admissions from Microsoft itself (Yahoo article about Microsoft-Activision lawsuit linked) that Starfield, the newest IP from Bethesda, will be an Xbox exclusive game. And as we all know now, exclusive games are becoming more and more popular and mandatory by the Microsoft overlords as they wish to completely dominate the gaming market.
Is it really that hard to believe Microsoft will want to freshen up its appeal to the newer demographics of video game players by promoting a new, innovative space-exploration/action game from one of the most famous and credible developers in the world over a franchise that is over 20 years old? Moreover, a franchise that had its best days in the early 2000’s, with many of its classic games nearly unplayable on the modern day consoles?
Call me crazy, but I don’t think so.
I mean, Microsoft even said in its defense of the anti-trust lawsuit that games like Starfield have more value being Xbox exclusives than being cross-platform IPs. And, as is well known/rather obvious in the business world, a company like Microsoft does not want its cover brand/franchise to be one that can be played on competing consoles.
I guess we’ll have to wait and see if these reports are true about Halo, the future of the franchise, and its developer.
Images Source: Featured Image: (Microsoft) (Halo Infinite | Campaign Launch Trailer – YouTube)
