The Halo series has always been synonymous with the Xbox brand, but many may feel it no longer holds its former glory. Asha Sharma, the new CEO of Xbox, recently commented on the future of Halo, stating in an interview that Halo remains a "very important franchise" for Xbox, and Microsoft is viewing its revival plans with a long-term perspective.
Asha Sharma told the BBC, "I've learned from great games that they all have a long history and legacy, allowing us to view them from a long-term perspective. I believe Halo is a very important part of our portfolio. It is a crucial franchise that represents a significant memory structure and the way players want to play, and we will focus on that. We will share more news about Halo in the future."
The latest entry in the Halo series is Halo: Combat Evolved, released this July. It is a remake of the original 2001 game, launched to celebrate the franchise's 25th anniversary. This title marks the Halo series' debut on the PlayStation platform, but its sales performance has been poor.
Industry analyst Rhys Elliott lamented that the Halo series has seen gradually slowing sales and declining overall popularity since reaching its peak years ago with Halo 3 and Halo: Reach.
"One can't help but wonder what the landscape would look like if the Halo series had maintained the trajectory it had during the Halo 3 and Halo: Reach era. As a Halo fan, it saddens me deeply that the remake of the classic title that started the entire series is so lackluster on new platforms."
Currently, more Halo games are in development, with one described as "Fortnite-like" due to its adoption of an online service model. Remakes of Halo 2 and Halo 3 are also reportedly in development.
Halo co-founder discusses how to "build another great Halo game"
Marcus Lehto, co-founder of the Halo series and designer of Master Chief, recently stated online that a major "concern" regarding rebooting the Halo series is its cost.
He pointed out that if Microsoft were to create a "fully featured Halo" game, it could cost between $600-800 million and take four years or more. Although Lehto himself has not been involved in Halo's development for many years, he expressed his belief that Microsoft would not invest such a huge sum or spend that much time.
In another post, Lehto stated that large companies like Microsoft are "highly inefficient machines." He added, "Small independent teams led by experienced developers, incorporating some enthusiastic newcomers, and minimizing management layers as much as possible, might be the only viable path to building another great Halo game."
Finally, Lehto revealed that the development budget for Halo 3 was approximately $40 million, with up to $30 million spent on marketing. He also stated that the cost of Halo: Reach was around $120 million, though he did not specify whether this included both development and marketing expenses.