14 DAY TRIAL // Among gaming's most prestigious franchises, Microsoft's Halo series occupies a special place, as it cemented the presence of first person shooters on consoles around the world. Since the first release of Halo: Combat Evolved, the shooter series saw two more iterations, and is preparing for two more, but has also branched out in the realm of strategy titles, thanks to the Halo Wars game.
Now, Microsoft has something very special prepared for Halo fans, as it has just announced, on the eve of the San Diego Comic-Con International, that it is collaborating with some of the world's leading anime studios from Japan in order to create the Halo Legends project. This new endeavor for the franchise will be constituted of several original anime short films.
The development of Halo Legends will be supervised by Microsoft's 343 Industries, which is now officially confirmed as the branch focusing on everything Halo related, and will feature creative direction from anime producers like Shinji Aramaki, who worked on the Applessed series, and Mamoru Oshii, who directed the famous Ghost in the Sheel movies. The compilation of anime shorts will explore different events from the Halo universe and will be distributed around the world by Warner Bros.
“The opportunity to work with talents such as Shinji Aramaki, Mamoru Oshii and others from some of the greatest anime studios is a very rare opportunity for Microsoft,” said Frank O’Connor, “Halo” franchise development director and provider of story and creative direction for 343 Industries. “We’ve seen the world through Master Chief’s eyes, and we’ve experienced facets of the universe through a variety of literary prisms, but now we get to watch new tales unfold in really rich, visually dynamic ways. I think anime fans and ‘Halo’ fans alike are in for a real treat.”
“‘Halo’ and its characters are a very natural fit for anime,” said Aramaki, creative director for the “Halo Legends” project. “As a fan of the ‘Halo’ universe, it is an honor to work with Microsoft and my very talented peers from other studios to create this collection.”
Overall, this new direction for the Halo series is certainly something very bold on Microsoft’s part, but if it pays off, it will certainly introduce a lot of new fans to the franchise. Here's the first teaser trailer for the project.