Halo is now officially Activision’s property, with XBOX moving the IP away from its dedicated Halo Studios onto its biggest subsidiary. While XBOX’s restructuring only happened a couple of days ago, it seems we already have information regarding the future of this iconic franchise.
As indicated by TechnicalHalo, one of the most reputable Halo leakers, Activision is planning to completely reboot the series, to the point where existing narratives built over the last few decades will “not be continued.”
“This is a reboot,” the leaker wrote on X. “[It’s] a new chapter, lore is not going to be continued.”
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And it only makes sense, really, considering how far gone Halo actually was prior to the restructuring. It’s taken on a whole new identity and vibe following the split between Bungie and Microsoft way back when, with Halo 4, Halo 5, and Halo Infinite all diverging significantly in their style of storytelling and narrative beats compared to the original trilogy.
But it’s a real shame if that same trilogy isn’t at least taken into account for the reboot. I’m fine with whatever new Halo ignoring 343’s and Halo Studios’ takes on the story and the characters, but the OG Halo games deserve to be respected and considered the utmost pinnacle of worldbuilding and storytelling, and even somewhat of a template for what any other future Halo should aspire to.
It also turns out that Halo Studios was actually working on a new Halo game that’d come out in a few years, but Microsoft decided to “pull the plug” on it, according to The Verge‘s Tom Warren. Whether that project will have any impact on the reboot is unknown at the moment, but considering how gutted Halo Studios was, I wouldn’t put my money on it.
