When it comes to certain franchises, you want to see them do well because you know that they can be great when they have the right team behind them. It’s the old adage of “Nobody wants something to fail because it’ll hurt more people than it’ll help.” For Xbox, when they came into the gaming space, they had one thing that helped elevate them to new heights, and that was Halo. The first-person shooter was so good that it spawned multiple mainline titles and spinoffs that continue to this day. However, just because it’s continued doesn’t mean it’s as quality as it was before.
You might recall that the last mainline entry that was released was a disaster at launch because it was literally broken up into pieces, and standard features were either canceled or heavily delayed after launch. You notice that no one even talks about the sales of that game? That says something. So, even though the next entry hasn’t been officially confirmed, there’s a lot of nervous energy from fans about it.
Enter Dan Gniady, who a YouTube channel reports has been hired to be the next lead designer for the next mainline Halo title. The good news is that this isn’t some random hire, as Dan has been a part of Bungie, who created the whole franchise and was a part of Creative Assembly. So, at the very least, he seems to be someone who is qualified to help get Master Chief back on track and get this franchise to where it needs to be to be successful again.
So, where did things go wrong? The simple answer is that the franchise has arguably outlived its story and characters. When Bungie made the game, they didn’t want to make a franchise but were pressured by Xbox into doing so, and that’s why a certain second entry ended on a cliffhanger, as they didn’t have the ability to finish the game as they wanted.
Then, when Bungie left to make its own IP, the reins were handed over to 343 Industries, which seemed fine at first, and then the games started coming out, and people immediately noticed the drops in quality and story. The 5th mainline entry had an ad campaign that was a straight-up lie regarding what was actually in the game, and no one likes to talk about the 4th entry either, as it was completely forgettable.
So hopefully, Mr. Gniady can give a shot in the arm to this franchise, because it needs it.
