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Halo Recharged the Energy Shield Protecting My Mental Health

Halo Infinite Needs to Forge a New Legacy Beyond Bungie

This article is over 5 years old and may contain outdated information

The Halo franchise is an iconic relic of gaming history due for a revitalization. Once the king of online multiplayer shooters, Xboxā€™s flagship sci-fi FPS is limping into the next console generation. The series has been faltering ever since creator Bungie handed the titleā€™s developmental reigns over to 343 Industries after 2010ā€™s Halo: Reach and moved to Activision to work on Ā Destiny. While 343 proved itself with Halo 4, Ā 2015ā€™s disappointing Halo 5: Guardians stripped the series of some of its luster and it hasnā€™t been able to get it back.

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343ā€™s inability to escape from Bungieā€™s shadow places the upcoming Halo Infinite in a precarious position and the developers are trying to hedge their bets. According to an interview with GameIndustry.Biz, 343 Industriesā€™ head of transmedia and entertainment Kiki Wolfkill is using alternative media avenues to keep the Halo IP active and relevant. The goal is to simultaneously maintain investment from hardcore fans and attract new players to the franchise before Halo Infiniteā€™s releases via projects like Showtimeā€™s upcoming Steven Spielberg-produced live-action Halo TV series.

ā€œThatā€™s a huge challenge for any IP, even wider entertainment franchises,ā€ Wolfkill told GameIndustry.Biz. ā€œPart of why thereā€™s been that span of time between Halo 5 and Infinite is the retooling of the infrastructure to give us the flexibility to do whatever we wanted with that game. But itā€™s also about setting off the next generation of Halo. We want people to be able to come into Halo Infinite who may not have played any other Halo game before. At the same time, part of what my role is and my goal with the transmedia pieces is, how do we start to engage new audiences and bring people into the universe so that when Infinite comes out, maybe people who havenā€™t played before are interested in playing.ā€

343ā€™s past transmedia efforts have been a practice of trial and error. Successes like the Hunt the Truth podcast were offset by a misfire like the film Halo: Nightfall. Wolfkill said the company learned from its mistakes.

ā€œHunt the Truth felt successful because it was a suspenseful story on its own and led into Halo 5,ā€ Wolfkill told GameIndustry.Biz. ā€œBut some of the other pieces were so carefully constructed to attach to the story of the game that, even though we said they were enjoyable standalone pieces, it really felt like you had to ingest it all at the same time. It didnā€™t feel very approachable for people new to the franchise, which was already a struggle with a game called Halo 5.

Wolfkill wants Halo to feel like a living breathing universe in the vein of Game of Thrones, Star Wars, Star Trek, or Lord of the Rings, but that also requires the franchise to succeed as a game. Nearly a decade has passed since a Halo title chugged a Mountain Dew, lifted a hefty gravity hammer, and swatted a plasma grenade wielding grunt out of the park to thunderous critical applause. With Sony operating its own movie studio via PlayStation Productions, Microsoft needs its best prize-fighting Spartan in peak condition to sell the next Xbox.

Halo 5 and, to a lesser extent, Halo 4 underwhelmed because they werenā€™t separate enough from Bungieā€™s beloved games. Halo 4ā€™s story was nearly nonsensical if you didnā€™t study the lore and Halo 5ā€™s ineffectual iron sights mechanic were a half-hearted attempt to modernize the game. Master Chiefā€™s latest campaigns didnā€™t stand alone from prior installments. But Halo Infinite provides another opportunity for 343 to step out from Bungieā€™s shadow and revive the franchise by bringing it to a broader audience.


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Riley Constantine
Contributor. Riley Constantine is Iowa's third greatest export behind Slipknot and life insurance. She loves to review movies and games while examining how they often mirror the bizarre world we live in.