After Halo 4 is released- Put Halo on Hiatus

Community General Discussion
1

Halo is my most beloved franchise. I look forward to every game, and play them all extensively. However, I have a fear that Microsoft is going to try and push Halo on a yearly schedule. Before Wars, Halo had always been on a 3-year schedule.

Halo CE: 2001
Halo 2: 2004
Halo 3: 2007

It was a pretty good system considering the massive amount of content each game brought you. The games could last around 3 years and just when you were looking for something new it would come. However in 2008 the 3 year trend was broken with Halo Wars. A completely different genre by a completely different company. It was the first game to explore Halo outside the FPS genre. Then in 2009, a 60 dollar expansion to Halo 3 was released in the form of ODST. It again took Halo in a new direction by putting you in the shoes of a marine, not a super soldier. It was fun, and introduced firefight. And despite its high price, was another new take on the Halo franchise. Then finally in 2010, after 3 years since Halo 3, we got the game we thought we were all looking for. Halo Reach.

I consider Wars and ODST side projects of the Halo franchise. So Reach was the first major Halo game since 2007. I was all prepared for Reach to be my game for the next 3 years. I was sure it would have the staying power the trilogy had. Unfortunately, I was mistaken. There were just too many things about the game that brought the overall experience down. And though I played the game religiously for 6 months and loved it, I don’t have the same feeling at this point in reach’s lifetime as I did with Halo 3 or Halo 2.

This year at E3, not one, but 2 Halo games were confirmed. Anniversary and Halo 4. Anniversary being a side project, and Halo 4 the next major game in the franchise.

Now I have to say I am just as excited for Halo 4 as I was Halo 3 and Reach, and looking forward to Anniversary. But I am also noticing something.

CE: 2001 ( major)
H2: 2004 ( major)
H3: 2007 ( major)
Wars:2008 ( side)
ODST:2009 ( side)
HR:2010 ( major)
HCEA:2011 (side)
H4:2012 (major)

In The first 6 years of Halo’s existence there were 3 games made. In the last 6 years, there will have been 5. There has also been a Halo related game every year for the past 5 years. Luckily, Halo has not gone the Cod route yet. while Cod pushes out essentially the same game every year, Halo has a 3 year schedule with side projects in the filler years. This way, we still get our fix of new Halo, but they are new unique experiences ( or in CEA’s case an old one). I am actually ok with this set up. A major game comes out and for the next couple years an RTS or a big expansion is released which give you new content until the next big game comes out. However Halo Reach was just released last year in 2010. And with Halo 4 coming out in 2012, that is only 2 years in between each major release.

I would like to say right now that Halo 4 coming out in 2012 is a blessing. Reach was good, but it just isn’t really Halo. It tided us over for a while. But we have been looking for the Chiefs next adventure for 5 years, and in this case, a year shorter gap is probably a good thing. However this being said, I don’t want it to stay a trend. After the release of Halo 4 take a 3 year break. Make Halo 4 as good as possible, so that it will last 3-4 years until Halo 5 comes out. I don’t want Halo 5 a year after Halo 4 or even 2 years after. I don’t want this franchise milked. When Halo 5 is announced, i want to have the same feeling I did when H2,H3,Reach, and Halo 4 were announced. If you start pumping out a Halo game every year, it will lose what makes it special, and I don’t want that to happen to the franchise a cherish most.

2

I’d say after Halo 4, stop for a while, but keep making upgrades, playlist updates, etc. on Halo 4. And also a constantly changing community playlist, I think that all the forge creators should get a chance to shine if their maps are good.

3

> I’d say after Halo 4, stop for a while, but keep making upgrades, playlist updates, etc. on Halo 4. And also a constantly changing community playlist, I think that all the forge creators should get a chance to shine if their maps are good.

That i essentially what I said. instead of releasing H4 and leaving it in the dust to make Halo 5 a year later. Take your time with Halo 5 and fuel Halo 4 for the next 3 years.

4

I actually like the side missions games a lot. ODST is perfect blueprint for having a great side story to help flesh out the Halo Universe. Reach did good as well for another side story. As long as they make these offshoots and make them well, I’ll keep buying them.

5

Maybe not a hiatus, but definitely avoid yearly releases. The only way Activision can support CoD’s schedule is through multiple developers, and we’ve seen how that’s worked out amongst the community.

I’ve always loved Halo’s post-launch support. 343i really needs to prove themselves in this area, and annual releases are definitely not the way.

6

Major Halo every 3 years sounds the least bit of good to me. Halo 4 in 2012, side-project within the next three years, using the same netcode, Halo 5 in 2015, and another side-project if they wanted to, then the last Master Chief Halo in 2018, and, again, another side-project if they wanted.

That said, I’d be totally find with longer waiting.

7

Halo Wars was released March 2009.

8

Why are you worried? 343i said that it is not their plan to make a yearly release schedule, and ODST through Halo 4 is only a coincidence.

9

> If you start pumping out a Halo game every year, it will lose what makes it special, and I don’t want that to happen to the franchise a cherish most.

Much agreed. I’m a big Zelda fan as well, and the main thing that makes me excited for every release is the fact that they only come out every couple of years. When a Halo game is announced, I want to be excited as all-hell, not say “Sweet, another Halo game.”

Microsoft has said already that the side projects have been a coincidence so far, so let’s hope they stay true to that. Looking at other publishers like Activision and EA, you realize that Microsoft Game Studios is one of the more decent publishers out there. At least they give funding for full colored manuals…

10

Don’t think CoD’s success hasn’t gone unnoticed by the folks a MS. I wish I could find the article, but it was mentioned that they were thinking of adopting a similar model of releasing games a little sooner.

11

> Maybe not a hiatus, but definitely avoid yearly releases. The only way Activision can support CoD’s schedule is through multiple developers, and we’ve seen how that’s worked out amongst the community.
>
> I’ve always loved Halo’s post-launch support. 343i really needs to prove themselves in this area, and annual releases are definitely not the way.

Modern Warfare 2 was really good and MW3 looks awesome, but please for the love of God keep Treyarch away from ANY CoD games in the future, they completely bombed with Black Ops.

12

I believe 343i’s mentality is that a Halo game will be released when they feel it’s ready. I’m aware there are mandatory release goals set by Microsoft, but I believe they’re in favor of 343i. I highly doubt that Halo 5 will see a 2013 release, and you’re absolutely right when you said it would tarnish the Halo experience.

The 3-year gap between major Halo titles needs to be maintained, so a lot of content needs to be available for Halo 4 to tie the community over until the next major release.

Activision releases a CoD game every year, partly because they milk the crap out of the franchise, and partly because they know the lifespan of a CoD game is roughly a year. This makes every CoD game lackluster in comparison to Halo; the campaigns aren’t as memorable and the multiplayer arguably doesn’t change.

Great post, agree completely.

13

> I’d say after Halo 4, stop for a while, but keep making upgrades, playlist updates, etc. on Halo 4. And also a constantly changing community playlist, I think that all the forge creators should get a chance to shine if their maps are good.

I second this

14

personally, I think they should push back Halo 4 so it’s a launch title on the next box. The game would only benefit from the extra horse power and it would be good to have a 2 year break for series(figuring Halo CEA comes out this November and the next box launches holiday 2013).

Postponing this game and focusing on developing new studios would be beneficial to Microsoft in the long run… They only have 4 real games (Halo, Gears, Forza, Fable)…