This realization hit me a few weeks ago when I was sitting on the forums, thinking about Halo in general. Halo’s in a pretty dark place right now. Halo isn’t nearly as popular as it used to be, what with CoD dominating the market and whatnot. Not only is Halo not exactly a “must buy” anymore with most FPS gamers, but what little community is left is totally split on many issues regarding the future of the franchise.
As much as I would love to work on a Halo game…I really don’t envy 343 right now. The very future of the franchise, and subsequently how Halo will be remembered in this history books, ENTIRELY depends on Halo 4.
First of all, if the game fails to compete and sell well in the FPS market, then the franchise is dead. If you don’t think Microsoft will pull the plug…Think twice. If Halo 4 doesn’t sell, then it doesn’t get a sequel, and the Halo name is dead. This goes hand in hand with Halo performing critically as well. If the game averages 6-7s instead of 8-9s, Microsoft might pull the plug on that aspect alone.
Secondly, the game has to appeal to the fanbase it’s already got. Show of hands, how many people would buy Halo 4 if it was exactly like Reach? Alternatively, how many people would buy Halo 4 if it was exactly like Halo 3? I’m betting there wouldn’t be a lot of people in either one of those ballparks, so 343 is tasked with the challenge of giving us a game that isn’t anything like what we’ve come to know from Halo…But at the same time does not alienate us and keeps that “Halo” feel.
That alone seems like a monumental and almost impossible task.
The third challenge 343 faces is staying competitive. Even if the game sells well, is critically acclaimed, and the fans love it…They still have to compete with Call of Duty and Gears of War to stay alive on the XBL charts. I think we can all agree that while we can still get games in Reach, we’d all like to have more people playing the game so that the TruSkill systems could work at their best. I bet we’d also like to have a population that could support the Ranking structure of Halo 4. Most importantly, people have to WANT to try Halo 4. Once they’ve tried it, they have to want to keep playing.
Just thinking about that has me really worried for Halo as a franchise. Any one of those goes wrong, and you potentially have no Halo 5, 6…Really any more Halo games at all. 343 has a bigger burden on their shoulders than most of us probably think about on a daily basis.
So next time you think about whining that “They aren’t giving us information!” or “343 is RUINING Halo!”, just remember the task they’re undertaking, and what kind of pressure they all must be under. We might be in it for the sake of the game…But 343 is in it for their JOBS.
Ease up on them a little, hmm?