14 DAY TRIAL // Bungie is saying that there's a very good chance Halo 3: ODST, which is set to be released on September 22 exclusively on the Xbox 360, will not be getting any downloadable content mainly because of the work that development studio needs to do on Halo: Reach, the prequel to the series that is set to arrive in 2010.
The statements from Bungie came at the Penny Arcade Expo where a panel on ODST took place. Brian Jarrard, who is community lead on the title, said that “Obviously right now what we're excited about is the impending launch of ODST, so we don't want to totally start talking about next year's model before this one's even off the assembly line. But there is a beta that's coming next year, so all you've got to do is sit tight.”
He added that “If you want to be part of Reach from the very beginning then you want to make sure you keep an ODST disc handy.” His statement has been backed by Kars Bakken, who is the senior designer on Halo 3: ODST.
The idea is that ODST is already a sort of add on for Halo 3 and Bungie, which has repeatedly said that its days of creating Halo-themed games are soon to be over, is already working on Reach, which is supposed to be as big as the original Halo 3 and ODST combined.
The company is hoping that the 10 maps shipped with ODST will be enough to keep gamers occupied for some time, so that a map pack is not needed until well in 2010. Of course, a lot depends on how much ODST sells when it is released and on the online activity in Firefight, the new Horde-like mode introduced.