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[Rickyiez]

My friends convinced me to buy a Series X to play Halo. We played for maybe 2 months before they got bored. RIP.

My friend who is a console only and Halo fanatic guy, build a PC just to play Halo Infinite. In the end we play Apex Legend exclusively now.

 

[BadBurger]

That might be the most direct entertainment-related research survey I've ever seen. Most beat around the bush even though their intentions are clear.

 

[Clintizzle]

Guerella Games after letting go of Killzone made Horizon.

Tango Game works after some decent games made HiFi Rush

I wish we could say that 343i, if given the freedom to, would make a good new IP but I don't think anyone from execs to players/fans have any faith in the studio.

This is the main difference when compared to the studios I've mentioned above - 343i have just not delivered and investing more in them is not good business. I don't like people losing their jobs but this is one of the cases where there its kinda understandable.

 

[In Cold Blood]

tbh Gears and Wolfenstein are nosediving too. Elder Scrolls is taking so long to make that it's barely worth thinking about right now, and the next Fallout will take even longer than that.

The good thing for Xbox is that it's no longer just about Halo, Gears and Forza.
The amount of gaming IP.they have is impressive.

 

[Fake]

What a mess.

 

[BlackTron]

Is it because people aren't into 343 they they aren't asking basic validity questions? Like okay the first question is obvious and benign, but the second is so specific and tailored not to how a professional would ask this on a survey, but what a current player who doesn't know about survey design would think a professional survey designer would ask this question.

. . .also the second question has no punctuation and the "NA" response is is different formatting.

Maybe 343 had to make their own survey and messed it up

 

[6502]

Wasting time. MS should get the next game green lit with a new developer stat!

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

"concern trolls" am i right boyz?.

 

[Astray]

Well, a cross-section of Xbox gamers, who are the target market for past and future Halo games, are not just some randos.

They are precisely the only stakeholders whose opinions matter on the state of the Halo franchise and the remaining hope (or lack thereof) for its future in the hands of 343i.

I actually, agree that this is in poor taste, but I can totally see the logic and value of them polling this group.

How do you protect against ppl brigading the poll though? Or from the studio itself hiring people to astroturf?

If they want to keep 343 around then fair, if they want to shutter it then fair, but placing this decision, even partially, at the hands of a poll is kinda emblematic of how MS runs its studios and how it doesn't have a clear vision for defining success/failure states for them, especially with Gamepass adding an additional layer of murkiness to the process of evaluation vs the normal sales vs costs paradigm..

 

[Topher]

No matter how you try and spin this, and someone will, this is not a good sign for 343.

SenjutsuSage is on his way....

 

[VAVA Mk2]

SenjutsuSage is on his way....

LOL his blood type is Kool Aid

 

[gothmog]

They fired the CEO, they re-located the Head of Transmedia, they gutted the leadership team, they gutted the development team leads, they dropped more than a few from the development teams, and they cancelled all talks of anything other than multiplayer for Halo moving forward.

Microsoft already did something drastic, because 343i themselves built an airtight case that they shouldn't be in charge of anything. Now they go radio silent and hope that the Battle Royale mode saves Infinite's multiplayer.

The thing they actually needed to do was "kill" 343 itself. All of these things were needed but were also half measures that did nothing to make anyone outside of fanboys happy.

Sometimes you have to symbolically destroy the old thing to make way for whatever new things you need. Keeping the broken structure around does nothing but remind you that they fucked up and will probably fuck up again.

 

[VAVA Mk2]

They fired the CEO, they re-located the Head of Transmedia, they gutted the leadership team, they gutted the development team leads, they dropped more than a few from the development teams, and they cancelled all talks of anything other than multiplayer for Halo moving forward.

Microsoft already did something drastic, because 343i themselves built an airtight case that they shouldn't be in charge of anything. Now they go radio silent and hope that the Battle Royale mode saves Infinite's multiplayer.

Wait what happened to Kiki Wolfkill?

 

[Data Ghost]

I'd love to know what REALLY went on during Halo Infinite's development. I just can't understand where all that time and money went. I enjoyed the campaign but quickly got bored of the multiplayer because unlocking tiny pieces of spartan armour is not my idea of fun. There was just no real content, it was all so bare bones.

 

[ReBurn]

No matter how you try and spin this, and someone will, this is not a good sign for 343.

The turnover of the 343i leadership team was that sign. The folks still there should have started looking for jobs the day Microsoft decided it was time for Bonnie Ross to spend more time with her family. This is more about whether the 343I brand itself is still viable and which talking points they need to play up when they announce what's next for Halo. I wouldn't be surprised see 343i "closed" and rebranded as a new studio.

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

Thats what happens when 343 were ran by several of Phils close personal friends and given a blank check and not held accountable

Just think back when Xbox was shown the video that gave us Craig and Phil said "Yeah that looks good send it" and I was told a few at Xbox were literally shocked how bad it looked but Phil wanted it out the door.

 

[sainraja]

Studio closure coming......

OR simply a re-branding, given the team was likely restructured after the layoffs.

Microsoft already did something drastic, because 343i themselves built an airtight case that they shouldn't be in charge of anything. Now they go radio silent and hope that the Battle Royale mode saves Infinite's multiplayer.

Some people are going to like that no matter what but BR mode could save Infinite's multiplayer. People keep asking for the same old, same old....well, that is kinda what they got and it didn't work — multiple factors that lead to that I know. BR might be the breath of fresh air the IP needs. As most fans have already shared, they think the gameplay/gunplay part is fine.

 

[Puscifer]

I've played close to 200 hours in the first 2 months but I haven't started it in over a year. That's how you kill a game.

I've put in 40 hours this entire time according to steam lol.

 

[Topher]

Thats what happens when 343 were ran by several of Phils close personal friends and given a blank check and not held accountable

Just think back when Xbox was shown the video that gave us Craig and Phil said "Yeah that looks good send it" and I was told a few at Xbox were literally shocked how bad it looked but Phil wanted it out the door.

You are not giving me a warm/fuzzy feeling about XGS game development dude.

 

[Magic Carpet]

I've been wanting this 'studio' closed down for years now. I want them out the door. I have spit and venom for 343.
I am accusing them of taking money and not working. Just sitting at desks browsing cat videos while earning a paycheck.
I think the IP is an anchor to the Xbox brand and money should have been redirected to other projects.
They could have had 20 brand new projects for the price of what they wasted on 343 and Halo Infinite.

 

[SafeOrAlone]

This is like your girlfriend asking if you’re mad at her, after you caught her cheating three times.

 

[Jaybe]

If real, that is so incredibly insulting to the studio to run a survey like this. 343 should be switched out but I can’t see why MS wouldn’t have enough data already to privately make this call.

 

[Robb]

I still play whenever there’s new content, unfortunately that’s very rarely.

 

[Dream-Knife]

The up side is no one will care if Call of Duty dies after it goes Xbox exclusive anyways

Activision is doing a good job of killing it right now.

 

[LordOfChaos]

Give me a good single player campaign expansion on Infinite and I'll play it damn it...

Do I have faith in them after gutting the campaign team? I mean...Halo was also mismanaged for years before, but it's a shame the end of Infinite was just potentially getting into the good stuff finally and now it's in limbo again. Hope it's not another 5 year gap before we see more mainline Halo campaign expansion and the 10 year plan wasn't a lie.

 

[MysticalChaos]

Time for Halo Mega-Bloks. Or Halo Wars 3

 

[Topher]

Give me a good single player campaign expansion on Infinite and I'll play it damn it...

Do I have faith in them after gutting the campaign team? I mean...Halo was also mismanaged for years before, but it's a shame the end of Infinite was just potentially getting into the good stuff finally and now it's in limbo again. Hope it's not another 5 year gap before we see more mainline Halo campaign expansion and the 10 year plan wasn't a lie.

Joseph Staten leaving and going back to publishing was the nail in the coffin for the campaign. I would love to be wrong, but right now there is nothing good coming out of 343. What a shitshow.

 

[Dafegamer]

 

[GHG]

SenjutsuSage is on his way....

ChatGPT right now:

 

[Ghost of Caelid]

Infinite has the best fps gameplay on the market...just failed as a service. Thats an issue of management not gameplay design. Switch up the management.

 

[FoxMcChief]

I loved my time spent playing Halo Infinite. Both single player and multiplayer. I bounce off games pretty quickly though, so I’m not the ideal person to ask about sticking around with any game.

 

[Bo_Hazem]

Wanted to contribute but they asked me to sign up, so I didn't want to inflate their "monthly active" members number any further so I pass.

 

[Mister Wolf]

They had there chance time for them to go. I would just give Halo to The Coalition or Machine Games.

 

[THE DUCK]

Studio closure coming......

This would just be beyond dumb, fine if they want to hand off halo to ID or elsewhere but this studio is proven viable and can work on other games.

 

[Magic Carpet]

This would just be beyond dumb, fine if they want to hand off halo to ID or elsewhere but this studio is proven viable and can work on other games.

The Halo IP needs to go in a box on a shelf in a warehouse in New Jersey. A warehouse on the brink of bankruptcy whose owner is buying an insurance policy and a can of gas.

 

[THE DUCK]

The Halo IP needs to go in a box on a shelf in a warehouse in New Jersey. A warehouse on the brink of bankruptcy whose owner is buying an insurance policy and a can of gas.

Nah, still easily one of the most recognizable names in gaming, with a second season of its tv show planned as well. Other games like doom and tomb raider have proven you can reboot franchises successfully.

 

[Romulus]

I don't for sure, but its not all their fault. The franchise is just played out. Stale. How many unique adventures can MC keep having? He's like this 2000 year old spartan with a cane. Even the voice actor sounds tired of it. They can't switch to a new character because the boomer base will riot online. They need to take like a 10 year break and just come back with something new. This constant trying to recapture the moment of CE is just embarrassing. It's not going to happen.

 

[Aaron Olive]

This would just be beyond dumb, fine if they want to hand off halo to ID or elsewhere but this studio is proven viable and can work on other games.

They shouldn’t, anything else is money lost.

 

[RedC]

According to OP's title, it sounds like we literally have 343's destiny in the palm of our hands.

 

[Syphon Filter]

holy shit lol.

 

[VAVA Mk2]

Time for Halo Mega-Bloks. Or Halo Wars 3

I would be down for another MS studio making Halo experiences like this focusing on other stuff in the universe. I would love a Flood scifi survival horror title or something focusing on the Forerunners during both the Human-Forerunner and Forerunner-Flood Wars. So much potential for the series to go beyond one MS studio.

 

[Syphon Filter]

Infinite has the best fps gameplay on the market...just failed as a service. Thats an issue of management not gameplay design. Switch up the management.

The gameplay on infinite awful, it's a generic COD ripoff, there is a reason that it failed fast and nobody is playing it less than a year. It's literally just a generic fps that does nothing different, a poor mans COD.

 

[PharaoTutAnchAmun]

Look, I'm critical of 343. They deserve alot of the criticism that is going their way. The budget for Halo Infinite was close to 1 billion I heard. They were given free range. They had a very large workforce of close to 500 people. On top of that they used three support studios in Certain Affinity, Sperasoft and Skybox Labs.
That is a massive amount of resources.
They had six years to develop the game.
Those six years with over 750 employees and nearly a billions dollars delivered one campaign game and a half assed multiplayer game.
That's truly unacceptable.

On the pro side, Halo Infinate campaign was a very good game. It's the best Halo since Bungie stopped making it. They delivered on that front.

On the negative side the multiplayer was a disaster.
The amount of time that they lost by changing engines half way through was crazy.
The engine they did create was sub standard and they would have been better off to use another engine like Unreal.

However, Microsoft has recognised all of this. First 343 embarrassed them with the initial showing of the game and the whole Craig meme.
They then missed the console launch and left MS with no first party game to accompany the console. They even had all the promotional stuff tailored around it.
On top of that MS know just how much money they would had lost on that game, and just how the reputation of Halo has diminished.

MS have gone through the studio with a broom, cleaned out alot of the dead wood and I have no doubt that things will improve from here on out.

The good thing now is that Halo, while it's important for Xbox, it no longer needs to hold the console on its shoulders anymore.
MS now has equal IP like Doom, Gears, Wolfenstien, Fallout, Elder Scrolls, Starfield and hopefully Call of Duty. This means that 343 can now take their time and reboot the Series.

Yeah, all does games, Doom, Wolfenstein, Fallout, Elder Scrolls, Starfield and Call of Duty where coming to Xbox anyway, MS did not have to buy does studios and a whole publisher, but in some way xboxfans are forgetting that.....

 

[AJUMP23]

 

[Syphon Filter]

I don't for sure, but its not all their fault. The franchise is just played out. Stale. How many unique adventures can MC keep having? He's like this 2000 year old spartan with a cane. Even the voice actor sounds tired of it. They can't switch to a new character because the boomer base will riot online. They need to take like a 10 year break and just come back with something new. This constant trying to recapture the moment of CE is just embarrassing. It's not going to happen.

It is their fault, how come mario is still popular then? The reason Halo is irrelevant now is because its not actually Halo, they decided to copy call of duty and not make it feel like Halo anymore.

 

[Romulus]

It is their fault, how come mario is still popular then? The reason Halo is irrelevant now is because its not actually Halo, they decided to copy call of duty and not make it feel like Halo anymore.

Or Zelda for that matter. The reason is the story and how its told. Their universe is not connected in the same way with millions of fans that expect at least some continuity. Halo has a realisitic timeline and it's just ridiculous that MC is just romping across the galaxy on all these individual equally epic adventures. He just keeps stumbling on covenant relics and rings over and over. Just wtf. No writer is going to be excited about that while connecting it to the previous games. With Mario you just start with a fresh slate and the past barely even matters unless its a direct sequel. And I never said it wasn't their fault if you read my post.

 

[THE DUCK]

They shouldn’t anything else is money lost.

So your plan is to completely discard a studio that has developed multiple well regarded AAA titles that have sold millions of copies each? Thank god your not in charge.

 

[j.k.2021]

Still playing.I love Halo Infinite.

 

[ReBurn]

Thats what happens when 343 were ran by several of Phils close personal friends and given a blank check and not held accountable

Just think back when Xbox was shown the video that gave us Craig and Phil said "Yeah that looks good send it" and I was told a few at Xbox were literally shocked how bad it looked but Phil wanted it out the door.

You dance with the one you brung...

 

[Aaron Olive]

So your plan is to completely discard a studio that has developed multiple well regarded AAA titles that have sold millions of copies each? Thank god your not in charge.

Halo infinite still isn’t profitable considering the rumored redacted budget of half a Billion dollars.

MCC was a dumpster fire of a release that took years to fix.

And the TV series was a stinker but I’m gonna blame that on Bonnie Ross lazy ass.

The studio is burning through cash they’ve made on previous projects with Halo 5 bringing $240 Million in profits over a $160 million dollar budget allegedly.