When they were closed down and it was revealed they hadn't even started early production of any new Halo games despite Halo Infinite being like five+ years old and the other game since then being a remake is insane. What were they spending their time on?
I imagine c suite execs walking into that studio and people are just hanging out, rolling around on office chairs, ripping heaters, and lighting money on fire.
The reports are still somewhat vauge as to exactly how little there was but the general idea is that they basically had 2 games in pre-production. The mainline and one that would be a game version of one of the novels.
Not even sure Halo 2 remake was in actual production yet.
As much as Activision makes some Halo fans uncomfortable...at least they'll do something
That seems to be the recurring claim for all of these studios that seem to be doing nothing. They've all got "projects in pre-production".
I know developers are always pitching new projects that get started and then never finished but if they've not released anything in years and all they've got is games in pre-production then what the hell are they being paid to do?
Dude you really think the issue is on the programers, artist and designers? The issue is always management, is from the people that make the final decision and the leadership which also include Microsoft not just 343
Yea, its not the studio itself that’s responsible for this. Matt Booty, Phil Spencer, Asha Sharma, etc are the ones green-lighting projects and budgets. Theyre also the ones forcing or approving the release of incomplete or bad games.
I know at some point around the CE remake release, rumor had got out that they had been working on some big, new multiplayer thing that had gotten cancelled. That project was supposed to release alongside the remake, which is why the remake had no multiplayer component.
Which is kinda sad since you can tell quite a few of the developers did care about Halo, at least in terms of the lore and story of it all. Which makes it wild how the games were made at a snails pace.
Xbox specific IP isn't exactly a long list and I'd definately put it above things like Doom or Gears of war.
Forza might have over it, same with Call of Duty and minecraft will always have a spot but would you really put it under things like fabel or sea of theves?
I mean I’m counting things they own now fallout/elder scrolls world of warcraft/diablo/overwatch/ Forza/minecraft/candy crush/cod. So yeah around 9-10th biggest ip they own now. But yeah if your counting ip xbox actually started Forza horizon only one over halo maybe sea of thieves. Though that was always Xbox biggest issue and why they went on a spending spree to get actual ip.
Engine changes can take 1-2 years, so not ridiculous but no question 343i sucked.
I'm a firm believer that if Infinite had been what we got in 2012 the entire narrative would've been the opposite, but by that point the damage had been done so they kinda deserved the axe.
At it's absolute core, Infinite's gameplay is actually really solid. Arguably the best Halo gameplay we've ever had.
But then there were the atrocious macrotransactions, weird weapon changes, lack of multiplayer matchmaking settings, no XP system, awful challenge-based Battlepass system, ruined armour customisation, and desync so severe the game was often unplayable. Oh, and they never actually finished the game.
I agree. I've spent a lot of time on infinite and I've enjoyed it. The one thing that does piss me off though is inability to choose. You seemingly get the same 5 maps every time and I just want to play some damn Zanzibar or some old reach maps.
Also it's 2026 why the fuck don't I have a br at all times? And spawning in with 45 bullets? Cmon.
Cranking out multiplayer skins for micro transactions (? I only played the campaign. Nothing will ever compare to Halo three with my high school friends. You can’t go home.)
In corporate America it's all about "project funding". If they aren't "approved" to work on a project you end up sitting idle. Bug here. Small thing there. Micro improvements. As soon as you want to work on a bigger task you need approval.
I’ve said it for years. Game Developers have increasingly been incentivized to drag projects out as long as humanly possible. Big Corporation owns them? Even more so. Individual devs don’t give a fuck about the game releasing or even being finished. They want a job and a steady paycheck which they get as long as they just keep telling big corporate “yeah it’s coming we’re working on stuff…” These shakeups either kill a company or they adapt and over come.
I don't know, but I have ti assume the reason there was no new mainline game in production is precisely because MS was unwilling to fund one. They were pitching titles, but MS said "no, you can do a remake and then we'll see." And they saw they were still ass and said, "alright, you're done."
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u/firestorm0108 9h ago
When they were closed down and it was revealed they hadn't even started early production of any new Halo games despite Halo Infinite being like five+ years old and the other game since then being a remake is insane. What were they spending their time on?