Halo 5 on its Way? Microsoft Exec Explains Why Xbox One Didn't Launch With New Halo Title
The Xbox One is the first of the three Microsoft consoles not to launch with a Halo series game, and now a Microsoft executive is speaking out to explain why.
"A couple of years ago we had the discussion of: 'Should we do Halo at launch and not do Halo 4 last year?'" said corporate vice president Phil Spencer to Kotaku. "But I was committed to getting Halo 4 done last year, and there was no way we were going to turn around with 343 a full Halo game in a year. So that was the plan we set on. I feel good about that."
He goes on to say that 343 Industries, the developer that worked on the last Halo game, would have to start developing the game in 2010, and that was not feasible.
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"A discussion around having a Halo game at launch, a true Halo at launch, meaning like a Halo 4 or 5-size game, would have been something we'd have had to start two or three years ago. We had the discussion, and we thought having Halo 4 come out when it came out from 343 and having them really land their first full version of Halo that they developed internally would be great for the 360 customers, great for 343 in shipping something," he said.
Before 343, Halo was made by Bungie Studios, so the companies were in transition. This was 343 Industries' first crack at getting a game that is beloved by millions right.
"Unlike some franchises that manage through 1,000 people, Halo is 343 and that team obviously has tight control. They are our Halo team," he explained.
The first Halo for the Xbox was a revolutionary game. It essentially started the whole multiplayer first person shooter craze online. It was a launching point. A few years later Halo 2 was released.
Halo 3 debuted with the Xbox 360. From there launched a series of spin-offs such as Halo ODST, Halo Wars, and Halo Reach, before the Halo 4 game.
A new game is in the works for the Xbox One, accordfing to Polygon.
