It’s no secret that the Halo franchise is no longer Microsoft’s crown jewel in terms of sales or prominence, and it hasn’t been for some time. Halo co-creator Marcus Lehto has now weighed in with his idea for a new game and new development philosophies to help revive the Halo brand. However, Lehto went on to say his ideas are probably “fanciful,” in part because he believes Xbox CEO Asha Sharma doesn’t have a real interest in reviving the franchise.
Posting on social media, Lehto said his pitch for a new Halo would be a project that does not aim to please all fans. Instead, he believes his idea for a “darker” and “more grounded” Halo game would not be embraced by many.
“It would be a lot darker with a more grounded military feel,” he said. “PvP would be the brains, PvE the heart and soul. It would not be ‘everyone’s’ Halo.”
Lehto went on to say that Halo’s lore has “become too convoluted” and is now alienating players who might otherwise be interested in Halo. “My goal would be to carefully thread that lore through a new baseline that allows players [the] opportunity to experience Halo fresh and unencumbered,” he said.
“I would probably bench much of the current lore – respect it, but build a new future narrative for both the old and new audiences which makes much more sense,” he added.
Lehto went on to say that Halo could have a bright future if management executes, but he thinks this might all be wishful thinking given the new leadership at Xbox these days.
“I’m aware that it’s fanciful and that I doubt Asha really gives a sh**,” he said.
Lehto also suggested a new Halo game “must be built by a local team together, not outsourced around the globe to a group that has ZERO investment in making something great.”
Outsourcing development is a common strategy for game production today. Halo: Campaign Evolved, for example, was developed by numerous studios outside of Halo Studios. The game didn’t get off to the best start, and some people didn’t enjoy some of the creative decisions, while others were confounded by Microsoft’s decision to release a Halo game with no PvP multiplayer. For his part, Lehto said, “Outsourcing killed the game.”
In another post, Lehto said he could foresee a future where multiple teams work on parts of a game that they “own.” However, Lehto said “the core game and experience has to come from a centralized cohesive team – no exceptions.”
This isn’t the first time that Lehto has offered a spicy Halo take. Before this, Lehto called out Campaign Evolved for “pandering to a new era of players with 0% attention span.” Overall, however, Lehto really loved the game’s upgrades.
In other Halo news, it was recently reported that Microsoft could enlist Call of Duty developer Sledgehammer to make a new Halo game.