Xbox Boss Breaks Silence on Future of Halo

01/27/2023 06:00 pm EST

Head of Xbox Phil Spencer has reaffirmed his support for Halo developer 343 Industries following some road bumps. Halo is the most important franchise Xbox has, it basically put the platform on the map when it was originally released and has done wonders for the brand ever since. The franchise was started by Bungie and the developer only grew it from there with games that got progressively better until the studio opted to leave after Halo: Reach. Bungie had done its time with Halo and wanted to go make Destiny, so it passed the baton to a new studio that was built with the sole intention of making more Halo games: 343 Industries. Although 343 Industries has made some alright Halo games, they haven't been as beloved as the Bungie entries. Halo Infinite was well-received, but various problems with its live service elements and missing features that were previously included on day one left a sour taste in the mouths of fans.

Earlier this month, 343 Industries experienced some shake-ups via layoffs and the departure of its creative director. 343 made it clear that it plans to keep making Halo, but some are skeptical that the studio is up for the task after a handful of entries with various problems. In a new interview with IGN, Head of Xbox Phil Spencer made it clear that 343 Industries is here to stay with Halo and that is a critical factor in its success.

"I believe in the team that's there, Pierre and the leadership team, and the plan that they have," said Spencer. "Obviously, [343 studio head Pierre Hintze], he's the studio head now, has been on Halo for a long time. He's worked on [Halo: The Master Chief Collection], he's done some great work there. The team has a very good plan. What we're doing now is we want to make sure that leadership team is set up with the flexibility to build the plan that they need to go build. And Halo will remain critically important to what Xbox is doing, and 343 is critically important to the success of Halo. In terms of support studios and other things, that's just part of development and having other partners help us. But the heart and soul of Halo is with 343 and the team that's there, and I have the utmost confidence in the team that's there and leading and the plan that they have going forward."

As of right now, it remains to be seen how 343 Industries plans to continue the Halo series. It seems like Halo Infinite will be supported for a while, but it's unclear what the next game will be or what it will look like. Either way, we probably shouldn't anticipate a new studio taking over the franchise anytime soon.

What do you think of the state of Halo? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @Cade_Onder.

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