Phil Spencer says ‘Halo’ isn’t ‘minor’ for Xbox, but…

While Microsoft had a blockbuster showcase last week with Starfield as its main feature, there were two notable absences, Microsoft’s two main action games before this new era: Halo and Gears of War. While Gears 6 is supposed to be in the works, Halo Infinite has switched to its live-service season model with hazy plans for Master Chief to return as there were recent cutbacks for those working on campaign content at 343. .

In an interview with The GuardianPhil Spencer was asked about Halo, which he says is still important. but…

“I wouldn’t say Halo is minor, but now we have over 20 studies,” Spencer said. “I’ll go back to the years where I basically had four games: Fable, Forza, Halo, Gears, the four horsemen of the apocalypse. We have a lot more games now.”

This was always the point of Microsoft choosing more and more studios, and big ones, so they could expand their reach beyond those limited franchises. The original Fable trilogy is old at this point, with Fable 3 coming out 13 years ago in 2010, though it’s about to make a comeback. Gears as a series has continued to produce strong offerings, but without the significant impact they once could have had. Forza is always great and probably the most consistent high quality franchise they have. Halo has had… ups and downs in the years since Bungie with 343. Infinite didn’t launch their live service ambitions very well, but they have improved on it in time. Though it looks like the Master Chief stories for the foreseeable future will mostly be told through the extremely bizarre Paramount Plus series rather than another game anytime soon.

I can see a world where Starfield is effectively the biggest Xbox game of this generation. Both in literal size, but in terms of impact and reach. They’re not “sales” per se, given that almost all Xbox copies will be played via Game Pass, but they’ll certainly work great on Steam as well. It will certainly be bigger than Gears 6, and I predict bigger than Fable and Perfect Dark, I would imagine. As for Halo, 343 took its chance with Infinite, and I’m wondering if the next mainline Halo installment will arrive even before this generation is over, and it’s not clear if the original idea of ​​”Halo Infinite is a ‘platform'” yet. is maintained afterwards. all this time.

Halo Infinite has indeed gotten to a decent place with all its improvements and Forge mode, but it’s pretty easy to see that these days it’s not the flagship series Microsoft relied on for years. I guess Master Chief is still the face of the brand, rather than some random Starfield NPC, but things have certainly changed, and Phil Spencer seems to recognize that.

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