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The Halo franchise remains synonymous with the Xbox brand, but many might agree that it has seen better days. Xbox’s new CEO, Asha Sharma, has now commented on Halo’s future, saying in an interview that Halo remains a “very key franchise” for Xbox and that Microsoft is taking a long-term view about reviving it.
“The thing that I am learning about great games is that they have a long history and heritage and we can take a long-term view. I am confident that Halo is a very important part of our portfolio. It is a very key franchise. It represents a very key memory structure and way that people want to play,” she told the BBC. “I am focused on that. We’ll have more news to share on Halo going forward.”
The latest entry in the Halo series was this past July’s Halo: Campaign Evolved, a remaster of the 2001 original game released this year to celebrate the game’s 25th anniversary. The game, which represented Halo’s debut on PlayStation, was generally well-received, but apparently had a slow start for sales.
Industry analyst Rhys Elliott lamented the slowing sales and diminishing profile of Halo as a franchise in general after the series peaked, in his eyes, with Halo 3 and Halo: Reach years ago.
“One can’t help wondering what could have been if Halo had kept the trajectory it had around Halo 3 and Reach. A remake of the game that started it all landing this softly on a new platform makes me pretty sad, as a Halo fan,” he wrote.
There are more Halo games in development, including one that’s been described as “like Fortnite” with regards to its live-service approach. Remakes of Halo 2 and Halo 3 are said to be in the works as well.
Developer Halo Studios has said future Halo games will also be on PlayStation, but those comments came before Sharma became Xbox CEO and pledged to release more exclusive games for Xbox.
Halo co-creator on how to “make a great Halo again”
Halo’s co-creator and the designer of Master Chief, Marcus Lehto, said online recently that a “big concern” he foresees about reviving Halo is how much it might cost. He said Microsoft making a “fully featured Halo” game would likely cost between $600 million-$800 million, and take four or more years to make. Lehto, who hasn’t worked on Halo in a long time, said he does not anticipate Microsoft spending that much or taking that much time.
In another post, Lehto said a large corporation like Microsoft is a “terribly inefficient machine.” He added that a “smaller indie team driven by seasoned devs, filled with a good mix of newer hungry talent as well, and minimal management layers is probably the only viable way to make a great Halo again.”
Finally, Lehto revealed that Halo 3’s budget was about $40 million for development, with as much as $30 million spent on marketing. He said Halo: Reach, meanwhile, cost about $120 million, though he did not clarify if this was inclusive of both development and marketing expenses.
