Halo used to be a juggernaut in the gaming industry. Its success is the reason the Xbox even exists today, with Halo serving as the system-selling launch title for the original Xbox. When the 360 came around, Halo 3 continued to sell Microsoft consoles and became the highest grossing game in the series. New Halo titles used to be events for gamers and now, we only get controversial or lackluster entries. Worse still, the series seems to be on life support. There’s no 10th anniversary remaster for 3 this year and 343 Industries has confirmed 6’s reveal “won’t be soon.”
Halo’s previous success put it as a solid rival to even Call of Duty. However, Halo 3 was a peak from which things only went downhill for the franchise. The next entry we got in the series was Halo Wars, an RTS made specifically to be played on Xbox 360. While different from past games, Wars didn’t sell anywhere near as well as them. Ensemble Studios, the game’s developers, were even shut down before Wars released due to controversy with Bungie.
Then came Halo 3: ODST which, while most applauded what content it had, was panned by many critics. The biggest complaint was that it cost $60 but felt more like Halo 3 DLC than a full game. The final game made by Bungie was Halo: Reach. While many applauded it as a quality send-off from Bungie, many others weren’t fans of the gameplay changes. From what I noticed, this was where the first major wave of people left the fandom.
Bungie left to work on Destiny and 343 Industries was created by Microsoft to continue work on the series. Their first big project in the series was a remaster of Combat Evolved and, despite positive reviews, it wasn’t anything new. Halo 4 ended up being 343’s first big expansion of the franchise. It ended up being an incredibly polarizing game due to major changes in aesthetic, gameplay, and music. This game marks the beginning of the 343 era, but that also meant that Bungie purists lost interest in the series.
From here on Microsoft decided to release a bunch of minor games. We got Spartan Assault and Spartan Strike, a duo of top-down shoot ‘em ups that went under the radar of most gamers. When the Xbox One came out, we got our first teaser for future Halo projects. This included hints at a new game, a mini-series, and even a Steven Spielberg-produced TV show. However, next to nothing shown at the E3 2013 conference ending up coming to fruition for the series besides the Ridley Scott-produced mini-series.
Then 2014 came around and we got the remaster of Halo 2 with The Master Chief Collection. Hyped as potentially being the first system-selling game for the Xbox One, it ended up being incredibly disappointing, with a plethora of bugs and shoddy multiplayer servers. Once more, many fans lost faith in the series. Halo 5: Guardians looked to rectify these mistakes the next year, but it ended up being the most polarizing entry in the series. Most agreed its multiplayer was fantastic. However, it shipped with a campaign many found short and uneventful, it added micro-transactions to the series, and it didn’t even have split-screen.
This game ended up being the last straw for many, myself included. I’m personally no longer excited about this franchise’s future. Halo Wars 2 was a breath of fresh air, but it wasn’t fantastic and it seems to be all we’re getting this year from 343. There are still plenty of chances for announcements throughout the year, but if 343 didn’t have anything to show at E3, that’s most likely a false hope. As bleak as things seem for Halo, 343 seems to be taking their time and focusing their resources on 6. Here’s hoping that the series can regain its lost fanbase and become a respected shooter once more.
Consoles
To keep Apex Legends running for an additional “10 to 15 years,” Respawn opens a third studio
Apex Legends developer Respawn has created a third studio in order to keep the popular battle royale genre running for another “10 to 15 years”. Madison, Wisconsin is where the new studio is situated.
This third studio (the first two being headquartered in Los Angeles and Vancouver) will largely focus on Apex Legends in order to ensure a continuous and, most importantly, sustainable production pipeline. It may, however, contribute to other Respawn products in the future. Ryan Burnett, who previously served as director of engine production at Epic Games and had a distinguished 14-year career at Raven Software, the Call of Duty Studio, will serve as the studio’s head.
Senior VP of operations at Respawn, Daniel Suarez, claims in-depth in an interview with GamesIndustry.biz that “Because we intend to stick with this for the long haul, team health is unquestionably a top priority for us. We’re eager to see Apex become a franchise that endures for ten, fifteen, or more years because we think it will. We can’t just accomplish everything at once, exhaust ourselves, and be unprepared to do it over the long run.”
Consistency (as well as adequate production runway) are essential to make Apex Legends’ 90-day turnaround for new seasons of content realistic. Suarez observes that the introduction of new characters to the game takes a lot longer than you might anticipate “It takes us between a year and a year and a half to become proficient in a Legend. We are therefore making preparations well in advance.”
Only a few weeks ago, parent company EA fired more than 200 Apex Legends quality assurance testers in an impromptu Zoom call, raising concerns among some fans about the game’s future.
Do you support Respawn’s decision to open a third studio? Do you believe Apex Legends will still be around in 15 years?
Kingdom Eighties, a micro-strategy game coming out for the PS5 in 2023, is a loving tribute to that legendary time period.Eighties will be a stand-alone novel like earlier books in the Kingdom series, such as Two Crowns or New Lands.
You take on the role of the leader, a camp counselor tasked with protecting the village against enigmatic creatures known as greed. Bike around the neighborhood with youngsters like The Champ, The Tinkerer, and The Wiz, who will support you in combat and each contribute something unique to the table while doing your best Stranger Things impressions.
Your thoughts about Kingdom Eighties Have you played any of the other Kingdom games?
Just now, another great update for PS Plus Extra and PS Plus Premium came out.There are 17 titles in all that are available for these higher membership tiers in March, which is a wonderful collection that should have something for everyone. In Europe, these games are now available for download on the PS5 and PS4, and they will soon be released in North America.
Here is a list of everything included as a reminder:
PS Plus Extra: March 2023
- Tchia (PS5, PS4) | Review
- Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection (PS5) | Review
- Immortals Fenyx Rising (PS5, PS4) | Review
- Rainbow Six Extraction (PS5, PS4) | Review
- Ghostwire: Tokyo (PS5) | Review
- Life is Strange True Colors (PS5, PS4) | Review
- Life is Strange 2 (PS4) | Review
- Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot (PS4) | Review
- Street Fighter V Champion Edition (PS4) | Review
- Untitled Goose Game (PS4) | Review
- Final Fantasy Type-0 HD (PS4) | Review
- RAGE 2 (PS4) | Review
- NEO: The World Ends With You (PS4) | Review
- Haven (PS5, PS4) | Review
PS Plus Premium: March 2023
- Ridge Racer Type 4 (PS1) | Review
- Ape Academy 2 (PSP)
- Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror (PSP)
Tchia, an independent open-world adventure, debuts on PlayStation Plus Extra on the first day of this month. In addition to everything else mentioned above, members will also have access to this endearing new game. The three classic games mentioned above are also available to PS Plus Premium subscribers. Both Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror and Ape Academy 2 provide a set of trophies, which is always a welcome extra.
According to our most recent poll, the majority of you are happy with the new games and oldies that were added to the catalog this month, and we don’t blame you. It’s a fantastic choice. With these more recent membership tiers, Sony seems to be finding its footing after a somewhat poor start.
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