Theory: Halo XB1 Will Have Enough Dev Time

Games Halo 5: Guardians
1

I’ve seen a lot of topics about how much dev time Halo 5 is getting. Well, tonight, I’ve sat down and did some figuring and a lot of estimation and I’ve arrived at what I think to be a very close estimate on the total amount of dev time Halo 5 will get.

So, as we all know, Halo 4 officially began development in 2009 but the exact date is unknown unless I’m much mistaken. So, I’m going to assume that it was around November because that seems to be the magic month when Halo begins and ends.

So, Halo 4 started development: November 15, 2009

And as we all know again, Halo 4 was released: November 6, 2012

Now, I remember reading somewhere that development for Halo 5 actually began during the development of Halo 4. Again, we don’t have an exact date at all so I’m just going to assume they didn’t begin so until a year before Halo 4’s release.

So we have the Halo 5 development start date: November 6, 2011

And it’s been said over and over that we should expect Halo 5 to be coming by the end of this year. Now we have our Halo 5 release date: November/December 2014

Do you see it now? I’ll lay it out nice and pretty.

4 Dev Started: November 15, 2009
4 Release: November 6, 2012

5 Dev Started: November 6, 2011
5 Release: Nov/Dec 15, 2014

2009
2012

2011
2014

See? A standard 3 year dev time. And not just that, let us remember that Halo 4 was created under very tense conditions at the time since they were always hiring a lot of people to the team and were still figuring how to best work with each other. So imagine. If Halo 4 went through a very rocky road of development with a standard 3 year dev time, imagine what Halo 5 will be like with a full team that knows how to communicate, all the the experience of Halo 4, the power of the Xbox One behind them, and with the same dev time.

2

My body is ready!!! >:) Mendicant Bias prepare for your escape!

3

More like my Xbox is ready. WAS ready a while ago.

4

I hope you are right man because in all honesty, I do not think I would be able to wait a whole extra year for Halo 5 to come out!

5

> More like my Xbox is ready. WAS ready a while ago.

Same, my 360 is itching to be sold off as soon as I can play Halo on my X1.

6

I’ve always tried to tell people that the Development time doesn’t necessarily equal to the time between games.

Most of them brush off my remarks as fan-boy rants, which might not be totally false but I’m still glad to see there’s people who think like I do.

7

> I’ve always tried to tell people that the Development time doesn’t necessarily equal to the time between games.
>
> Most of them brush off my remarks as fan-boy rants, which might not be totally false but I’m still glad to see there’s people who think like I do.

It’s not a matter of thinking as you do, it’s a simple matter of fact. Virtually no AAA developer these days is developing only one game at a time, especially if they already have plans for a series rather than a stand alone.

Wouldn’t worry about being called a fanboy. Those who call people fanboys tend to most act like fanboys themselves.

8

> > I’ve always tried to tell people that the Development time doesn’t necessarily equal to the time between games.
> >
> > Most of them brush off my remarks as fan-boy rants, which might not be totally false but I’m still glad to see there’s people who think like I do.
>
> It’s not a matter of thinking as you do, it’s a simple matter of fact. Virtually no AAA developer these days is developing only one game at a time, especially if they already have plans for a series rather than a stand alone.
>
> Wouldn’t worry about being called a fanboy. Those who call people fanboys tend to most act like fanboys themselves.

Oh trust me, I’m not worried about it, in fact, I embrace it most of the time. Fanboy and most definitely proud.

What I meant by ‘think like I do’ is: It’s nice to see people thinking logically.

9

THANK YOU!!! KUDOS TO YOU!!!
I once tried to figure out something similar to this, except I didn’t have the Dev start dates, so I just went with releases, making it seem like the games would take longer in between. (It was a flop) Great theory and hope to God you’re correct. However, with all the flak, hate, and other crap the haters and nit-pickers are throwing at poor 343 about Halo 4 (I find the game great), I wouldn’t be surprised if they took a bit longer on this one. Not saying I want to wait longer, but still…

No matter the release date, I have all confidence that 343i will make the next main Halo installment extraordinary and a blast to play. I BELIEVE!!!

10

> My body is ready!!! >:) Mendicant Bias prepare for your escape!

Did you just say… My body is ready…

11

I too remember reading that they started Halo 5 during the making of Halo 4

12

> Now, I remember reading somewhere that development for Halo 5 actually began during the development of Halo 4.

Of course. If a developer is planning on making a sequel (especially in long-running franchises), work on one entry begins long before its predecessor is finished. Once a game is completely conceptualized and fleshed-out, the designer begins working on ideas for the next game. As the art and graphics for one game near completion, some artists are taken off the project and put onto another. Did people think that once a person’s role in the game is done, he just sits at his desk and twiddles his thumbs?

I find it useless to talk about the “dev time” of games because, like you said in the other topic you created, we just don’t know enough. Quality of games is determined by a lot more than simply the number of days between releases. How many people are on the team total? Do they have enough people in one department to keep up with the needs of the other departments? Has management set realistic expectations for deadlines? Has Microsoft set realistic deadlines for release? Is there enough testing time? Any one of these variables being subpar can cause a subpar game.

For examples, according to your math, Halo 4 had a standard 3-year development time, but there were still a lot of things that were included in previous games but cut from the final game (e.g. Campaign Theater, custom game options) or needed to be added or fixed post-launch (e.g. File Share, skill ranks). Despite adequate development time, Perfect Dark Zero underwent Zero testing after development finished and had all kinds of bugs.

Moreover, Bungie probably began work on 2, 3, and Reach before their respective predecessors were finished. Those games may have had 4 years of development time.

If 343i and Microsoft think they can make Halo Xbox One by the end of 2014, then all that means is that they think they have the resources to compensate for any time lost. I don’t see a need for all the drama.

13

Another reason why they can start developing the next game halfway before the release of the main one is because people like concept designers for example finish their work way before the game is made so rather than just sitting there doing nothing they begin working on the next project.

14

Sorry if I’m completely wrong but… Wasn’t Halo XBO, Halo 2 Anniversary?
Also, If HR came out in 2010 (by Bungie) and HCEA came out in 2011 (by 343i) to fit the H1 launch date, and had the HR multiplayer… I assume that its development was at most 1.5 years?
Now, if H2Anniversary has been under development since 2011 and it needs way less time to be developed (considering that it doesn’t need a new history) we can assume that time is not a problem (as long as they don’t decide to add hundreds of features the last week of development)

15

I remember reading somewhere that Halo 5 was already in development, that was a few months before Halo 4 came out. If that is true then we might get Halo 5 this year but I still think that it will be coming in 2015. Well E3 is not so far away so we’ll know soon enough.

16

> Sorry if I’m completely wrong but… Wasn’t Halo XBO, Halo 2 Anniversary?

That’s nothing more than a rumor. Could be true, could be false.

17

> Sorry if I’m completely wrong but… Wasn’t Halo XBO, Halo 2 Anniversary?
> Also, If HR came out in 2010 (by Bungie) and HCEA came out in 2011 (by 343i) to fit the H1 launch date, and had the HR multiplayer… I assume that its development was at most 1.5 years?
> Now, if H2Anniversary has been under development since 2011 and it needs way less time to be developed (considering that it doesn’t need a new history) we can assume that time is not a problem (as long as they don’t decide to add hundreds of features the last week of development)

If there will be a H2A I doubt that its development began in 2011, I remember frankie posting on gaf that H2A wasn’t in development a few months ago.

18

This is kinda common sense.
Nobody knows what will come out this year but it’s obvious Halo 5 will be coming in 2015.

19

And this year is the Halo 2 launch anniversary… “TerribleAwesome things are about to happen at Hogwarts Halo. Harry PotterJohn-117 must not stay here… now that history is to repeat itself.”

20

> 4 Dev Started: November 15, 2009
> 4 Release: November 6, 2012
>
> 5 Dev Started: November 6, 2011
> 5 Release: Nov/Dec 15, 2014
>
> 2009
> 2012
>
> 2011
> 2014

Two development/release times are almost exactly 3 years apart. Half-Life 2 episode 3 is confirmed.

But on a more serious note, they probably got started on the next Halo game before the one they were working on was finished back in Bungie’s day, and they still got released 3 years apart, which probably adds up to at least about 4 years of development time between each of the old ones, not to mention that even with 3 years of development time for it, critics and fans alike can probably agree that Halo 4 felt rushed. I mean, they even announced that it was “finished” like, barely over a month before it was released (around the end of september), and it even had a day 1 patch, didn’t it?

I really hope that I’m wrong on this one.