I think 343 becoming a sort of Lucasfilm Games/World's Edge could be exciting for the IP as a whole but at the same time pretty worrying for Chief's story specifically, it would be too early to tell but my main worry would be that by the time they get back to Chief's story they'll end up rebooting it again, new writers with a different take on Chief and another cool villain dumped (Atriox).
But I do think this may be the right approach in the end, 343 being the creative overseers and taking multiple pitches from studios to work on the Halo IP...Doubling down on their publishing operations, there are so many stories that could be told and so many genres they could do, someone wants to make a Halo RPG? A Flood Survival Horror? ODST 2? Lego Halo? Lol.
Been for years demanding that 343 do more spinoffs in the Halo universe but it always felt like their publishing department was an afterthought and underfunded and while at the same time, their core team honestly kept screwing up. I have concerns about what it means for Chief's story (when he returns, if the story will be another reboot) but I also would have a lot of excitement of the possibilities for spinoffs.
It's felt like for a while that 343 is simply understaffed, too centralised, taking on too much under one roof, etc. And 343 has failed multiple times in different ways, they often excel in one thing but completely drop the ball in the other, aka taking on too much, like Halo 4's good story but bad multiplayer, Halo 5's good multiplayer but bad story, Halo Infinite's good story/good multiplayer but awful content.
Let others take on focused Halo spinoffs, whilst 343 continues to try to turn Infinite MP profitable and then make a decision on how/when to continue Chief's story...I'd need to know what they plan with that, maybe they have strict guidelines on Chief specifically (ideal) or maybe they come back to him themselves after they get the MP (and studio) in a good place again.
So having said all of that, 343 being turned into a publisher of Halo isn't the worst idea...It's actually a pretty exciting one if done smartly...But it comes with concerns that I need answering for specifically Chief's story, do I care more about a bunch of awesome Halo spinoffs or Chief's story? I always want Halo to expand because it has such a rich universe but I also love Chief.
Another thing I wonder is that if 343 becomes a sort of publishing house operation ala World's Edge/Lucasfilm Games, I wonder if Joe Staten can still be involved in certain Halo spinoffs? Maybe at least as a creative consultant? Hmm. It does suck that it had to happen like this though, so many people let go is really awful, talented people as well, wish they could have been put into other Xbox studios.
It feels like a reasonable approach after the many screw ups and an exciting one for Halo as a wider IP outside of Chief's story.
Last edited by Ryuu96 - on 19 January 2023
