‘Halo’: Conflicting News Reports of Game’s Future is Giving Fans Whiplash
Being a Halo fan during the Microsoft layoffs has been a confusing time. What does the future hold for the hit video game?
Last week, Microsoft rocked the gaming community by announcing layoffs, including three of Xbox’s most well-known studios. The announcement meant that 10,000 people would be losing their jobs. Bethesda and the Coalition were very tight-lipped on how this affected them over the weekend, leaving many fans in the dark. In absence of comment, fans began to speculate about what this meant for the future of the games being developed there.
343 Industries, on the other hand, has been all over the news this past weekend. The studio is best known for making the Halo series after Bungie left Microsoft to make Destiny. The first game it made post-Bungie was Halo 4 in 2009, and it’s been the main studio for Halo since. Its latest title was Halo Infinite in 2021.
Halo Infinite’s development has been a strange one. It had originally been an Xbox Series X/S release, but the studio has to scrap 2/3 of what was originally planned for the game in the summer of 2019. The development team then worked hard to get it out for the 2021 holiday season. It released the multiplayer first as a free-to-play mode with a battle pass and in-game purchases. The multiplayer was well-received at the time, and people anxiously awaited the release of the campaign the next month.
When the campaign was released, it was met with mixed feelings. The game played really well, and the open world was an ambitious idea. But it just didn’t quite feel finished, and it had a story that just sort of ended. The game’s goodwill started slipping more and more. The game was released without co-op, a way to replay the campaign, or even the Forge mode. And little content was coming out for the multiplayer. The co-op and replay also didn’t release until late last year without couch co-op, a staple of the franchise. Everything about the game was failing the fans with – and 343 management was the likely culprit.
All that considered, it’s hard to blame fans for reactions to what happened over the weekend.
To Halo or Not to Halo
When the layoffs happened, 343 Industries studio head Pierre Hintze stated that the company would continue to support Halo Infinite‘s multiplayer and live service. This came as a relief to fans hoping for more content, and that seemed to be the end of the speculation. Well, until the popular Halo leaker Bathrobe Spartan came out with fresh rumors reported by Metro UK.
According to the rumors, single-player DLC for the game is canceled and 343 Industries would no longer be the studio developing the main Halo titles. The rumors went on to explain that since 343 already uses outside studios to help with the multiplayer, they would just use them to develop the games while overseeing the IP. The reaction to this news from various Halo fans was a mix of pure joy to rightful doubt.
The people excited at the idea of 343 no longer being a part of the development made sense. Even after the former Senior Multiplayer Designer for Halo Patrick Wren was letting everyone know that poor leadership was the cause of many of Halo Infinite‘s issues. The internet was on fire with everyone speculating what this could mean for the future of Halo. This caused Pierre Hintze to come out with a new statement on Facebook and Twitter:
— Halo (@Halo) January 21, 2023
The statement from 343 Industries seems to be the end of most of the rumors. Even the possible reactions of 343 Industries employees lead to the sort of speculation a workplace goes through after a layoff.
Let us know in the comments if you would have liked 343 to no longer work on the series or if you are glad it was all rumor.
“Thought I’d Try Shooting My Way Out. Mix Things Up A Little.” – Master Chief
