Should Microsoft give the Halo ODST franchise to Infinity Ward to develop from the ground up based on the MW2 engine. This would be a start from scratch with non of the Halo legacy baggage with new modes of play catered for new audiences?
This may be like what Playground did for the Forza franchise with Horizon. Bold and experimental features which could feed into the mainline Halo game where it makes sense.
This could be an ‘arcady’ socially focused Halo which can introduce new audiences to the Halo franchise. This in effect could introduce more gamers to the ‘skilled’ competitive mainline Halo game.
And just to make things clear, I by no means saying it should be a COD clone. The game needs to maintain the DNA of what makes Halo, but something new.
We have Joseph Staten now with 343i. He was the creator of that game. He did all the writing and was lead of that game’s development. NO don’t give it to another studio to develop! If you want another amazing ODST experience then keeping that particular one close to home.
It wouldn’t be a terrible idea to let others work on more Halo titles so we have more than just infinite for “10” years. Maybe completely new spin offs could be developed with 343i being consulted during development.
Your overall idea is pretty solid. I think if the game did use the engine IW has been using for CoD games, it inevitably would feel like a CoD clone though.
You must be young to think this is in any way a possibility. IW is not an asset that microsoft can just send projects to or tell them what to work on. Unless IW made it clear they wanted to take a break from COD along with activision approving it MS cannot just dictate to these companies what they will work on. We have laws in the US that prevent full merging of these companies to prevent monopolies which is why sony is complaining about the purchase in the first place (which isnt completed btw).
IW cannot be told “hey, stop working on COD and come over to help out Halo” just because MS purchased activision. IW still works under activision and activision is still a separate company from MS. Think of MS as a majority stock holder, they can suggest, nudge and control some of the financial flow but they are not in charge of activision in a way they can tell the studios under that umbrella what to do.
That being said, hell no I dont want IW on Halo. We tried COD halo with Halo 4 and that game was objectively bad along with being a massive misstep in direction. IW is COD at this point and the other studios who produce games are just filler until the next IW game. Any old school cod player knows this, especially now that Treyarch is a shadow if it’s former self.
Halo ODST with more tactical gameplay because you’re an ODST and not a super soldier… I can get down with that. But they have to nail the Halo feel, so they need to understand things like physics, collision how guns should behave, Shield Health vs Flesh Health and such.
Could be a great game, could be a swing and a miss, who knows.
To be honest I think ODST would benefit from being more of a tac team shooter with command prompts for AI followers and players akin to move, guard, shoot, and follow.
Honestly IF and a big IF Infinity Ward decided to, and was given the ability to; I’d much rather be in the boots of a marine in the midst of an Insurgent uprising PRE COVENANT WAR.
hold up… imma go make a post about this in general.
Microsoft now owns Activision Blizzard. Activision owns Infinity Ward. So yeah they infact could just give them a Halo Project. Not that I really want that, but it is a possibility.
Microsoft can just tell a studio what to work on. They’ve done it before. That’s how Halo Wars was made. They told Ensemble Studios that if they wanted a game to be made that it would have to be a Halo version of the RTS they were developing.
IW is the superior developer. They managed to make a smash hit that blew all of 343’s records out of the water. They’re also not prone to randomly dropping devs or missing generous deadlines.
Once all the regulatory investigations are completed then that’s exactly what it means.
Microsoft will own Activision Blizzard which includes Infinity Ward so Microsoft will be entitled to have them work on whatever projects they want to, as Infinity Ward belongs to them.
If you don’t believe me or anyone else on the subject there are many examples of just such activity within the broader entertainment industry and the gaming industry specifically. Activision Blizzard and EA will both provide a few good examples of acquired game studios being told what projects they are working on.
Whether they would want to or not is another matter entirely.
I’d say no. You can’t just give a franchise along with thousands of gigabytes of data to another studio and expect them to churn out a AAA Game of the Year title. That’s how we got in this mess in the first place.
I’ve avoided COD for bad monetization practices and overall just not doing well with the franchise since Ghosts. Everything I heard about COD since then is exactly why I avoided them. I do not want any of the COD teams to work on anything Halo. If I can’t trust 343 to release something finished at launch, I’m not going to trust Infinity Ward, Treyarch, or Raven Software with anything.
I’m with you on not trusting them since ghosts. I hopped off after just a month of playing MW3. It’s all been down hill since then. However I will say that I played some of the new Modern Warfare and it was pretty good. So I at least have faith in them making Modern Warfare games again.
No, again they cannot dictate to activision what to do as if it says MS in front of their name. Even the UK is looking into regulations regarding their “merger”. You are totally deluded if you think MS can now tell them what to do directly without first dissolving those branches then merging them under the MS umbrella which they cannot do without bringing anti trust cases against them. Please stop trying to tell someone how the world work when by your own words you demonstrate your lack of understanding on the issue.
This thread should be locked because IW taking over Halo is pure fan fiction
I’m sorry, but no you clearly don’t understand and I’m not the one trying to passive aggressively call other people stupid on this thread.
Yes they currently have ongoing investigations on the merger, but there hasn’t been any big issues thus far meaning that it will likely fully take hold shortly. Microsoft has already made agreements and written contracts in regards to the new acquisition. It has been official for some time now. You can’t write and sign legal documentation with another company about property you now own from a merger if you do not own it. Which they do.
So I suggest you stop attacking people in a desperate attempt to try and derail this thread and get it locked. The people here are actually having a civil conversation with real facts and understanding. If you can’t play nice then you’ll be the one put in time out just like any other rude and unruly child.
I get that you don’t want IW involved in Halo but your understanding of how company acquisitions work is incorrect.
Yes the deal is being looked at by regulators and until that process is complete then Microsoft can’t tell IW what to do but as soon as that process is complete, provided the acquisition is not blocked then they own them and can have them work on whatever games they want.
I’ve given you examples of this within the gaming industry and I have first hand experience of this myself. If you don’t believe me that’s your choice but research it for yourself or speak to someone that has real world experience of such acquisitions and the regulatory investigation process.
I’m happy to get in touch directly to explain the end to end process if you’re genuinely interested in learning about it but I have no interest in you telling me I’m wrong about something that used to be my job.