14 DAY TRIAL // The Halo universe is arguably one of the biggest assets of Microsoft Game Studios. The first game, developed by Bungie, was a launch title for the original Xbox and established a franchise that sold a lot of copies, while also making a mythology that generated novels which ended up in top seller charts, an upcoming strategy title for the Xbox 360, called Halo Wars, and a movie.
And Microsoft Game Studios is saying that the use of the universe will not stop here. Jason Pace, who is the lead producer on Halo Wars while also overseeing the overall franchise, told Eurogamer that “We tend to view the franchise side of Halo as an entertainment property, and something that we hope to expand in many different directions: both through additional genres of gaming and additional ways to tell the story that may not be game-related at all.”
When questioned on projects other than the already known Halo Wars and Halo 3: ODST, including the rumored Peter Jackson endeavor known as X06, Pace said that “Those are the only projects I can discuss at the moment.” We’re sure a lot of people hope that Halo will also be turned into a board game.
The biggest problem Microsoft is probably going to have with the Halo franchise is the fact that players might become uninterested in the universe. After all, it’s hard to believe that we'll see a Halo 4, as Bungie is moving on from the franchise and with Master Chief completing his saga and there's only so much you can do exploring parallel story lines like that of an Orbital Drop Shock Trooper. In this respect, Halo Wars will be crucial, because its reception will show whether gamers care about Halo when Master Chief is no longer in the picture.