Yesterday, Microsoft confirmed its plans for roughly 10,000 layoffs throughout the company, with Halo developer 343 Industries reportedly "hit hard" by the job losses.
While the company restructure hasn't been fully detailed by Microsoft, and some of what's coming out regarding 343i are just reports right now, the whole situation does throw up questions about the future of the current Halo title.
After a lengthy delay, Halo Infinite finally arrived on Xbox in late 2021 - a full year after it was first set to launch alongside the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S consoles. At the time of its delayed arrival, there was hope that the team could deliver on its long-term plans for the game.
Since then, 343 Industries has struggled to introduce meaningful content at a quick enough pace, especially in a competitive market where live service games are continuously vying for the attention of gamers.
However, it's still improved a lot since launch just over a year ago, with the developer continuing to build on the game's solid foundations. Online campaign co-op and Forge mode arrived in late 2022, on the back of a year filled with small-scale updates and events that were fun to keep up with, given how enjoyable Halo Infinite's core gameplay is.
The question is, should the team further commit to the future of Halo Infinite in a big way, or is it time to move on from this iteration of Halo?
We've heard reports that 'Project Tatanka' from Certain Affinity is set to bring a battle royale to the game at some stage, but for now, that's restricted to rumours and reports. That'd certainly be a huge addition though, and would showcase real commitment from Xbox.
However, given we've heard nothing concrete on 'Tatanka' more than a year after the game launched, and the fact that online co-op and Forge are considered by many as 343 merely finishing off core Halo Infinite features, there's certainly a case to be made for now moving on when it comes to core development.
Whether such a move would be another mainline 343i Halo game is another big question, with fans starting to point towards other developers potentially having a crack at Halo. While we can't see that happening anytime soon, the case for moving on, from Infinite at least, becomes potentially stronger as time goes by. We can expect the series as a whole to stick around for a good while yet anyway, whatever form that takes!
What do you think about the situation? Should Xbox & 343 continue to grow Halo Infinite, or is it time to focus on the next game? Leave your thoughts on the future of Halo down below.
Comments 44
Ditch the live service model and let 343 make another real halo game. I feel that all 3 campaigns they have made have been good to great.
The free to play, never ending halo game was a terrible idea. This was a ubisoft level mistake of trying to apply the current trend to their biggest ip when people just wanted a proper game from that ip.
If another studio wants to try a spinoff like a horror type game then by all means go for it but I think 343 should do a proper Halo 6 as soon as possible.
I just want decent multiplayer. That’s the heart of Halo for me. I don’t care who delivers it.
I get like there was so much jank and bad decisions which accompanied Infinite but 343 didn’t have a plan on how to make the game an actual live service. They wanted micro transactions but now we’re in season 2.5 and they’re reselling the same 10 things.
Winter Update started strong but it’s an excuse to chuck out cut reach armor.
I’m not even a huge fan of infection but it’s baffling we don’t have that mode or assault yet.
@SplooshDmg the funny thing is mod support in MCC seems to going down really well with content creators on PC. I can see how Infinite is dead on PC though.
Considering how long it takes them to get stuff out I’d say a complete do-over would be catastrophic. Better to sort out 343 (or replace them) and use what’s there to build on top off. The actual act of playing infinite is good. I don’t think that needs fixing so much.
343 was never qualified to work on a AAA game. It was a web developer made for Waypoint.
I've moved on already, makes sense for them to do the same. I know I'm not the only one. The flop release really shouldn't be repeated.
The next halo game should definitely be made by a different studio. 343 have been struggling with the IP since 4 and isn't getting any better.
I reckon either a reboot or ODST/Reach type Halo game could work.
I think modern gaming would be better for the most part if live service in general was scrapped and we went back to the 360 era approach (with Halo that was base game being campaign + multiplayer with post launch support being DLC map packs). Studios trying to chase Fortnite riches by going all in on live service mostly results in damaged reputations.
Make the Activision deal happen, and give the Halo IP to Infinity Ward (Modern Warfare 2) for some years.
@Grumblevolcano
If they are really chasing Fortnite riches, they would make the live service part better. I never was a fan of Fortnite, but from what I have seen.. Fortnite is also the king of the live service model. They have the best model in the market.
I think Xbox is gonna ditch Halo like they did Gears, and become the Valve of cloud gaming.
They don't have time for Halo, they don't need it either. All they need is for people to subscribe to Game Pass.
Let 343i make a new IP. Let them find their passion back.
Bring back halo at the end of the 10th console generation and make it worth a 10+ year wait.
Yes, they need to add spiltscreen campaign like they promised.
I feel like letting other studios taking a crack at halo through infinity might be a good idea.
Let someone make an ODST mini campaign, or a horror themed one where you play as a marine trapped with elites.
My 2 cents:
Give Halo to someone like iD or Infinity Ward.
Let 343 work on some new non-triple-A IP, and maintaining the online modes for Halo Infinite and MCC.
@Kaloudz
The campaign was a sort of highlight for me and the open world and sort of discovery things.
The control and grappling hook was perfect.
It was let down by weak graphics and bland open world design and only one biome and almost zero environmental effects and weather effects.
Also definitely not enough to do and discover in the open world.
But I really enjoyed the fps control and encounters and campaign game play, even collected every item to string it out a bit more.
Should have been the series consoles answer to the PS4 GOWR reboot or Switch BOTW, but sadly failed.
I have never trusted Xbox since to this day and also especially after year 2022.
Despicable company to me now and not worth my time and money for now. Sold my series x last week, but never say never, might return one year in the future.
The pure "kill it with fire" attitude toward Halo Infinite is so funny after the initially super positive reception it enjoyed.
Is Halo Infinite really that bad? Like, speaking from a Nintendo fan perspective, I thought Splatoon 3 was kind of a mediocre sequel on the Switch, but it's still fun to pop into from time to time. I couldn't imagine retiring the series or something just because it wasn't a GOTY contender.
@Dezzy70 No interest in Starfield or... whatever else happens to be releasing this year, I take it?
Ditch Halo, its had its glory days. Time for something new from someone new.
I feel with Infinite, 343 got the gameplay right, it was genuinely fun to play. At the same time the world felt empty with very little to do, I felt the linear indoor sections were all too similar and it overall still felt rushed and lacklustre considering it’s development time and budget. They couldn’t even manage to ship it with co-op.
I think 343 have had their chance and repeatedly failed. They either need to be taken away from the franchise or get some proper management in with a clear vision. At this point I tend to lean towards taking them away from Halo altogether and giving another studio a shot at it.
@Ralizah
Well the big three that were realising before June 2023.
Redfall maybe ish.
Forza, I’m a Forza Horizon person don’t like any track based racers.
Starfield. Who knows what that is going to be like but probably far to RPG led now for me.
And 30fps only come on Xbox I did have a 12tflop console. 😂. They should give options of a dynamic resolution at 60fps.
Company Microsoft with xbox turning into a miss managed joke to me.
The campaign was awesome and I had a great time with it when it released. Multiplayer was fun for a spell, too. It felt like tremendous value for what I sunk into it, a bit of money for cosmetic items.
Hard for me to criticize games, because aside from playing and enjoying them I don’t know much.
@Dezzy70 Wait, which of their games only run at 30fps? I know Gotham Knights did, but that's a third-party game.
Nothing should be running at 30fps on modern power consoles. I put up with it on Switch because that's the price you pay for gaming on a glorified gaming tablet that was out of date half a decade ago.
Campaign only guy.
YES. The underlying combat of Halo: Infinite was great, and it’s hard to get that right, but it fell down in several ways that are fixable. E.g.
1) One biome. What is the point of going open world if every inch of the world looks the same. As soon as you left the vault on the ring at the beginning you had seen it all… Just more and more hexagonal prism mountains. Needs diversity and some creativity.
2) Add bigger and better combat set pieces. Halo always had amazing set pieces. Like taking down a scarab tank, or three, in the middle of a battlefield that felt like a warzone. Halo Infinite resorted to lame Far Cry style bases and only slightly changed that formula.
3) Boss fights weren’t fun. Being locked in a small room with a bullet sponge boss wielding a gravity hammer isn’t fun, it’s frustrating. Final boss did one worse by adding snipers. Awful encounter design
4) Story felt unfinished and poorly told. There were some good moments but it failed in between. And the big bad was a hammy B movie villain that boasted of his power without ever showing us. Show don’t tell 343.
And What happened after Halo 5? Halo 5 ended on a cliffhanger and apparently years have passed. Poor storytelling, do better.
This is all solvable.
I just wanted a decent solo player campaign. That’s the heart of halo. Xbox studios are all about service games because they want people hooked on subbing.
It was too short this campaign. Undelivered and didn’t have co-op. Wasn’t the devs fault. More casualties of MS complete mismanagement
Whether something new or a reshuffled 343, Microsoft needs to enable a studio who can deliver the following:
@Ralizah
Currently Starfield seems to be 30fps only
On series s and x. When released.
@Dezzy70 i agree with you about the single player part. Had its moment of good, but bland open world and no weather or decent graphics made it feel very old and not a system seller. Which is what Halo used to be. Sorry you sold off your Series X, but I understand the frustrations, and i am tossing the idea around of buying Diablo 4 for PS5, if i do that, that will be the first 3rd party game i have bought on a PS console since early PS3 days. If that opens the door to my PS5 more, i will turn my Series X into a GP slash shooting and racing console and use it as a secondary, with the PS5 taking the lead and i can’t even believe those thoughts are in my head. Half of the PS3, all of PS4 have been Sony first party only.
@Dezzy70 I know the showcase footage was a little choppy, but surely Starfield will have a 60fps option on Series X. It's such a powerful console. I know Bethesda games are poorly optimized, but it's difficult to imagine the game won't manage higher framerates on a 12TF system.
I'll be shocked if there's isn't at least an option for a lower-resolution performance mode.
@Ralizah
Well it has been well published and from Todd at Bethesda, I though everyone had seen the interview videos.
@Green-Bandit
It’s a crazy old world and gaming world at the minute.
I was shocked when I went to possibly order a new car, 2 different makes.
Both main dealers said you looking at 7 to 9 months for the car to arrive. That was a chip shortage etc reality check for me.
Though at the minute it is also other manufactured parts production issues out there.
I’m amazed game console manufacturers are allowed any and the chips are not used in priority devices only around the world.
Goes to show what a daft world we live in.
I think it’s time to shelve Halo for awhile. Let it take a breather. Ever since 343 took over they have made one bad step after the next & pretty much destroyed what Bungie built. They have done that much damage that The Coalition & Gears passed them by as Xbox number 1 studio & franchise. I think Xbox can easily survive without Halo moving forward with the likes of Gears, Starfield, Forza, Hellblade, Outer Worlds, Avowed etc. Bring Halo back next Gen & get a new team on it
Hi there fellow gamers;
I´m just going to repost my comment on another similar article.
This whole restructuration of 343i might be for the best in the team´s future.
Having become a Halo Fan in the last 4 months only, I had the joy of playing the Bungie games for the first time, as well as playing the first two 343i games (still have Infinite to play).
Halo 4 had a great story and not so good gameplay and Halo 5 Guardians had good gameplay and a terrible story, imo.
I´m still kinda excited and curious for Infinite´s story campaign and see what they were able to do after Halo5 mess of a story.
But what about the future of the Halo franchise?
Will 343i still be in the helm and make another atempt?
Or will another Microsoft own studio take the reins?
I really don´t know. But whatever happens, I just hope the next Halo game, if there will be one, is as great, fun and has that essece as the many fans of this beloved franchise need it to be.
Cheers, stay safe everyone and happy gaming to us all
Benjamin wrote:
100% this. It’s been super frustrating to have a cliffhanger each time, that works for a tv show when the next episode is next week, not for a game where the next one may be 6 years away.
Even worse that it’s never properly resolved.
You can still a tell a self contained story as part of a larger narrative. Just look at Halo 1-3.
@Dezzy70 not doubt about it. Yeah car’s and trucks are still on back order here as well. My Chevy Truck with 50K miles on it is worth around the same or slightly more than when i bought it 4 years ago. Never seen nothing like it.
I like Halo Infinite. The campaign was solid and the multi-player is solid. The multi-player needs more content for sure. The campaign... I look forward to expansions hopefully all throughout the Halo ring.
No. Its done.
Microsoft didn't manage Halo well and devalued their own IP(hence, why they want to buy established IP's)
343 as developer also deserves 60% of the blame. Their own incompetence dragged this IP down the gutter too. Literally built a studio from the ground up for Halo and it went down the drain. Delays, broken games, and no sense of direction either, hurt the studio also. Being the rich kid on the block dont mean $h1t if you cant be creative with their own organic IP's.
its telling only 10% of players completed the halo infinite campaign
Don't care at this point. They absolutely shouldn't get a million miles near whatever the next game in the franchise is though.
@Kaloudz I thought that as soon as MS bought Zenimax. The first new Wolfenstein was amazing and both Dooms are super well regarded (not played the second yet though). To me it shows that they "get" the franchises they work on and are capable of updating the games to feel modern whilst still feeling true to each franchise. Something Halo could use after all this time and what I think they were shooting for with Infinite.
They've also got that Deathloop/Redfall studio that are pretty talented. They're no Bungie or iD but at this point "not 343" is enough to make me more interested in Halo than I am atm.
@themightyant 100% agree with your points. That said, while I did miss the big set piece moments, I did find that I also made my own more frequently, as the open world sandbox allowed more freedom and creativity.
Whether that's a good substitute, I don't know; I couldn't talk to my brother about specific cool moments that we both experienced but I could tell him about cool stuff I was able to pull off.
@Kaloudz
It’s a shame, loved Xbox on the original, 360 days and even the Xbox one days to a point once Phil stepped in, it picked up.
But Series console generation so far for me is poor to very poor for Xbox.
What would get me on Xbox over PS5 and Switch is simple its own top end AAA exclusives.
PS5 has the multi-platform games as much as Xbox and their own exclusive games.
Switch has its Nintendo only exclusive games, but of course not great for new multi-platform games.
It’s simple Xbox you need to be at the 360 days again. Maybe I shall return in 2024/2025 when you wake up a bit.
@MattWithoutFear I think there was a lot of potential for that, systems based sandbox creativity, but honestly didn’t see much of it and didn’t remember anything particularly memorable.
Before the game came out I was excited about what would happen if a squad of UNSC crossed a bunch of Covennant, what would happen if the Flood was introduced too? How about if they had a couple of tanks and covenant had a scarab? Then add the Chief. It was a mouth watering prospect.
Sadly this didn’t happen, except in the most minor of ways. Again it felt like this game was a solid foundation but needed another few years to see its true potential. Instead it sounds like they spent the last few years scrambling to make it the game it ultimately was rather than the game it could be.
Plenty of room to improve that in a sequel, or more Infinite campaign, built on this solid foundation.
Not really sure anymore. I kind of stopped caring after years of being disappointed.
More of the new campaign structure. The ‘enclosed conflict’ gameplay of Halo works really well in a semi-open world scenario. I wouldn’t mind seeing more options added to think laterally about a conflict.
I'd rather see Halo go to another developer, but I'm afraid the Microsoft dictation to leadership will continue. They won't be allowed full creativity, only focusing on how to monetize as quickly as possible. I enjoyed Infinite's campaign, but seeing the sloppy support for the current multiplayer model is sad to see. Recent news as made things seem more gloomy.
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...