Prophet of Truth?

Halo's ex-franchise director, Frank O'Connor, has given Activision a few pointers now that it's in charge of making the next Halo game with a "purpose-built team." Top of the list, hire some devs who were laid off from Bungie and Halo Studios.

O'Connor's time with the iconic sci-fi series stretches back to the early 2000s, when he jumped aboard at Bungie and eventually became the series' development director at 343 Industries. He left the studio during an internal shakeup in 2023, shortly before 343 rebranded into Halo Studios, which has since been gutted due to Xbox's "reset."

"There are three paths," O'Connor recently commented on a LinkedIn post, talking about whatever Activision's Halo plans are. "None of these are easy, guaranteed or necessarily viable."

His first suggestion is that Activision could make a "classic" Halo game with the series' familiar, heavy movement and chaotic sandbox "tailored to a core audience [and] scaled" to also be "attractive to a broader one so it can grow (not to mention [the] obvious fact that Halo MP is better [with] more people playing, by mathematical default)."

Activision's second path, according to O'Connor, sounds like a completely modernised and substantially different Halo - one that "reinvents the game/universe in a surprising but fantastic way." What that would look like is anyone's guess. "Maybe it's a new take on the FPS, maybe it's an action RPG," O'Connor wrote. Either way, it would get "a small head start based on curiosity or loyalty." The idea of a full-on lore reboot wasn't totally popular with series fans.

And, finally, there's the third path, which basically sounds like Call of Halo. O'Connor said the company could "translate Halo IP and sandbox into the [Activision] comfort zone," by using the "player progress and business models that are proven to work" time and again in the Call of Duty series. Activision could then "craft a big annual or semi-annual spectacle and constant content," much like it does for its other heavyweight military shooter.

The ex-Halo boss then ended with two more bonus tips. One, "Hire Bungie, Halo Studios and other laid off folk who are bursting with talent and ideas that got nerfed or shut down over the years." The second is to avoid tying the next Halo to "hardware/service launch cycles" or forcing it to launch on aging platforms - like Halo Infinite's Xbox One version.

Activision's Halo is still likely years away since the publisher hasn't even assembled a new team for the project yet. Here's hoping Master Chief's next comeback isn't as bumpy as his last - checks notes - four attempts.

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