Halo has a new home at Activision following recent changes at Xbox, and while it’s still early days, Activision has reportedly proposed a total reboot for the series. This would be a fresh start, moving away from the convoluted Halo lore built up over the last 25 years through various games and spin-off media. That’s according to sources who spoke to Rebs Gaming, who also stressed that nothing is concrete right now. Call of Duty developer Sledgehammer Games presented conceptual prototypes for a free-to-play multiplayer game and a story campaign built in the Infinity Ward engine, and it’s believed the studio will lead development.
“Activision is building a development team for the next Halo game, and based on my information, that team could be built within Sledgehammer Games. I’m also told they created the prototypes in the Infinity Ward engine. This doesn’t confirm the game will be developed in Call of Duty’s engine instead of Unreal Engine, but the prototypes indicate it’s definitely possible. Apparently, Activision’s idea for the campaign project was a soft reboot that doesn’t follow Halo Infinite’s story, but also doesn’t retcon established canon,” Rebs Gaming said.
“However, it sounds like plans are changing. I’m told they discarded their original project ideas for a full Halo game.”
Rebs Gaming added that this means a sequel to Halo Infinite is unlikely and that “at least some of Halo’s story” will be rebooted. One major criticism of Halo after its original developer, Bungie, left the franchise and handed it over to 343 Industries/Halo Studios was that the franchise shifted away from telling standalone stories. Halo books and media were supplementary material that added to the franchise, but weren’t essential to the overall narrative.
But with Halo Studios, there was a period of mandatory homework for fans as novels, comics, and spin-off games featured crucial plot points and new characters. For example, the Forerunner history in Halo 4 and the appearance of Blue Team in Halo 5 required outside reading to understand what was going on, while later games jettisoned major villains like the Didact and Jul ‘Mdama, resulting in a messy lore with abrupt resets.
In related Halo news, former franchise director Frank O’Connor offered plenty of advice to Activision as it builds the new game, including pitfalls it should avoid.
