Bungie recently released its first non-Halo game in over a decade, Destiny, but the shooter's current steward 343 Industries won't be going anywhere according to producer Bonnie Ross.
Speaking to CVG, Ross said that while Bungie created the Halo franchise, 343 Industries was created especially to carry the series forward.
"We are a purpose-built studio, we are built for Halo. One of the things I did when I first started the studio, was to make us the steward of Halo. Bungie just managed the game and then centralised groups made the books and things. I asked, as part of bringing 343 to life, to have everything under Halo," Ross commented.
She said it was important to bring together all the strands of the Halo universe under the 343 banner, as the studio has a long term plan for the franchise that may even put Marvel's movie universe to shame.
"For me, that was incredibly important – I wasn't looking at just the next Halo game, I was looking at the next 20 years of Halo," Ross continued." When you're thinking about it that way, you have to think about what sandbox you're playing in, what stories you're going to tell – I think you have to own everything. For us, it's about how we build that universe."
Ross believes it's important to expand the Halo saga and make it broad enough to tell stories about. As such, 343 Industries needs to look beyond just the next game.
"I, maybe arrogantly, compare us to Star Wars, Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter. You have to have a universe where you can tell hundreds of stories. So for me, 343 and Halo go together, but in order to make sure Halo isn't just the next game, to make sure it doesn't become something we're not really thinking about, I really want to be deliberate about where we're taking Halo," she continued.
Asked if there's an actual document containing the plan for the next two decades, Ross replied "The secret document, locked in a dark closet that only a few people know the combination to! I mean, we have a sandbox, we know some of the stories we want to tell – there's lots of things to be decided on."
Halo has expanded into books, toys, and shows like Forward Unto Dawn and Nightfall but as so far failed to appear on the big screen. As for the stories they might want to tell in Halo 5: Guardians and beyond, Halo 4's lead writer Chris Shlerf is now at BioWare working on the next Mass Effect so it will be interesting to see what they come up with.
Bungie also said they hoped Destiny would be compared to Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings prior to release, but that's one game that won't be picking up any awards for its story.
Halo 5: Guardians is set for release in late 2015.
