Microsoft just handed one of its most notable legacy franchises to the guys behind Call of Duty, Halo‘s former top rival in the first-person shooter market. That’s right: Activision is making Halo from now on. Microsoft has stripped Halo Studios for parts, eating hundreds of layoffs amid Microsoft’s restructuring. The crew that remains will be purely on upkeep duty for the current Halo games already out in the universe. Given Halo‘s troubled development cycle for the past several years, some fans hope this could breathe new life into the franchise. However, those who don’t care for how Activision runs Call of Duty are dreading the transfer.
The restructure comes under the guidance of new Xbox CEO Asha Sharma. Asha Sharma has used the word ‘reset’ to describe the 1,600+ layoffs this summer. The game of musical studios doesn’t stop with Halo Studios, as Sea of Thieves developer Rare Limited, and Age of Empires developer World’s Edge are also being moved under the Activision umbrella.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Halo, Rare, and World’s Edge to Activision. It’s an honor and a responsibility that we do not take lightly. These teams and their games have inspired fans around the world for decades. For Halo, our goal is clear: make the greatest Halo game ever, worthy of its universe and legacy, while staying true to what made players love it in the first place. It is a bold ambition, one that this franchise deserves. We have already begun assembling a purpose-built team, unique in capability and talent, ready and excited to deliver this next chapter with the community.” —Rob Kostich, President of Activision
Microsoft continues to be an anti-trust clusterf*ck nightmare, while not seeing any meaningful financial gain from their rapid consumption of the video game market. Perhaps they’re looking to balance out the literal hundreds of billions of dollars they’re spending on AI data centers. Still, with franchises like Fallout and Halo under their belts, maybe Microsoft’s vision of an even bigger juggernaut era in the games industry isn’t out of reach. Because they can’t just make some money—they need to make ALL the money. But who knows? Maybe we’ll get a good Halo game out of the deal, hopefully not plagued by the issues and delays that hampered Halo: Infinite.