Microsoft's Halo was a revolutionary title when it first shipped in 2001. Combat Evolved on the Xbox soon moved to the PC with a "Halo: Custom Edition" free expansion, adding new maps, flamethrowers, and other user-generated content tools. Halo 2's 2004 launch introduced the likes of dual-wielding, competitive online multiplayer, and broke global video game sales records within 24 hours of release.
The more recent Halo titles have struggled to "stick" in the modern market, but Microsoft hopes to change that with Halo 5: Guardians; the new Halo game will be released alongside the Spielberg-collaborative Halo television series in fall of 2015.
Since Bungie's departure from Microsoft, the Halo license has been given to 343 Industries, responsible for the reportedly momentous production of Halo 5. 343 Studios General Manager Bonnie Ross had this to say of the impending title:
"In the past, 'Halo' games have pushed the Xbox forward, showcasing the console and its ecosystem in entertaining and innovative ways. Making a 'Halo' game that runs at 60 frames per second, on dedicated servers, with the scope, features and scale we’ve been dreaming of for more than a decade, is non-trivial."
We were told that Halo 5: Guardians would see launch on the Xbox One in fall of 2015. The TV series should be beginning around the same time. No news has yet been shared on the possibility of a PC port, but given that modern consoles share architectural similarities with PCs, it seems more likely than in years past. The Halo: Custom Edition expansion for Combat Evolved had some of the best user-generated content for a multiplayer FPS that I've ever experienced, so I'd love to see another PC release of Halo. Microsoft's dedication to its OS on the gaming side seems suspect lately, though, given their final admittance of failure of the GFWL platform. We'll see how that goes.
In the meantime, 343 Industries and Microsoft will have a presence at E3 this year; Bonnie Ross intends to reveal more about Halo 5 at June 9th's media briefing.
- Steve "Lelldorianx" Burke.