Microsoft has positioned itself as a Third party developer disguised as a 1st party console maker. Thier PRIMARY platform is no longer the xbox brand. It is the Game Pass brand. PC, Xbox one, series X, Series S (a focus on affordability and not a focus on keeping the xbox brand standard with identical processing power unlike sonys discless model. Enabling familieswho typically can not afford a brand new gen console at launch a chance to own one). All tied together with the game pass. They are even letting people have them with monthly installments…gamepass included.
The question is how do you sustain a Netflix like model were anyone can cancel thier subscription in a months notice with a content drought like halo has been experiencing. At $10 a month you have to keep a gamer hooked for 6 months to net the profit you would of gotten off of a $60 dollar game. The upside however is there is no physical disc to sell to gamestop. Meaning two people cant play the same game for $60 (the $30+ plus game stop gets for the used game so that is illrealvent to ms).
Activision is the largest 3rd party developer. And for better or worse they did this by being the best at making money and capitalizing on trends. When a portion of the call of duty community cried foul over modern warfares modern setting (classic movement deja vu) they had trey arch return the series to wwii with world at war while infinitey ward worked on the next instalment.
My thought is this. Microsoft should decide the halo torch amongst two developers. We should not have to wait 5 years for a game like halo. Like the CoD series we should be treated to an ever evolving game experience every 2 years (not necessarily 1 yr like cod). With side projects similar to ODST. Episodic content exclusive to game pass like a Halo Classic game that features the classic movement the community is divided on an incremental scale that comes in the form of single player missions and multiplayer map packs.
Its these huge lulls inbetween games and the lackluster over all experience that has shrunk the community and put the series in the backseat of the gaming pack when halo used to be the jam that drove the mf tank.
Buy giving 343 the competition from another studio they will undoubtedly up thier game like infinitey ward did over trey arch with the recent modern warfare. We will get halo games faster. And we will have a variety of experiences that only creativity from totally different minds can inspire. Had they of done this initially they might have even saved the bungie deal by allowing them to move on to another project of thier choice. I dont care much for Destiny but before that game was known if certainly feel like Bungie had well earned a trust in judgement that a new project was a great idea.
I really enjoyed halo 5. And I feel like those who didnt would have enjoyed a different offering 2 years later from a competitive studio working towards the same go. Making halo a flagship game in experience and not just in name.
5 years is just too much time for any brands flagship series.