14 DAY TRIAL // 343 Industries, the new developer in charge of Microsoft’s Halo franchise and the studio behind the recent Halo 4, wants the series to evolve into a multimedia universe, just like the Star Wars one, for example.
Halo 4 came out at the beginning of the week and it marked the next installment in the huge video game series. Alongside it, however, Microsoft and 343 Industries also premiered a special live action web series called Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn, and are even preparing a new book based on the game.
These sort of multimedia efforts flesh out the Halo universe in ways the actual games cannot, according to 343 Producer Kiki Wolfkill, who talked with CVG about what stories can and can’t be told in the shooter games.
“We've always had a big vision for Halo and the universe and we look at ourselves as not just a games studio but an IP studio. There are all sorts of stories we want to tell and the universe is so rich, right?
“The first-person shooter is the best place to tell one kind of story but as you can see from Forward Unto Dawn and stuff like that, there are other parts of the story that are interesting to tell in different ways.”
The Halo franchise was one of the first to embrace multimedia expansion, with books and comic books appearing alongside the games since the release of the first Halo: Combat Evolved title.
Using these other types of media, 343 wants to evolve the Halo universe and reach levels of popularity experienced by franchises like Star Wars.
“Forward Unto Dawn allowed us to explore characters a little bit differently and tell a different kind of story - and that is interesting to us. We want Halo as a universe to grow and evolve and be a Star Wars... all the good parts about Star Wars!”
Do you think Halo has what it takes to rival multimedia franchises like Star Wars or should 343 stick to making video games?