Highlights
- Halo Infinite and the Halo TV show have faced backlash, but recent improvements suggest a comeback for the franchise.
- A Fallout: New Vegas-style spin-off could give Halo a fresh identity and help the series continue its upward swing, just like Obsidian did for the Fallout franchise.
- 343 Industries should consider partnering with a smaller developer for a spin-off, allowing it to focus on Halo Infinite and the next major game.
The Halo franchise has had a bit of a tumultuous last few years. Though it received a great deal of praise and attention upon its initial release, Halo Infinite's disappointing approach to the live-service model left a lot of fans disappointed. And to add insult to injury, back in 2022, the first season of Paramount+'s Halo show really wasn't a big hit with fans, with it making some major, unnecessary changes to the universe's lore. But Halo might be on the rise once again.
Over the last year or so, 343 Industries has done a surprisingly solid job of bringing Halo Infinite back from the brink of death, and in recent months, it's finally become the game that fans always wanted it to be. Similarly, the second season of Paramount+'s Halo show is set to land in just over a week, and it also looks to be making some big course corrections. The Halo franchise could be making a comeback, and a Fallout: New Vegas-style spinoff could really be the thing to push it over the edge.
The Case for a Reboot of the Halo Franchise
With Microsoft’s biggest franchise struggling to find its footing in recent years, the best path forward for Halo may be going back to the start.
It's The Perfect Time for a Halo New Vegas-Style Spinoff
Fallout: New Vegas Is Still Considered One of the Best Entries
Releasing in October 2010, just two years after Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas is still widely considered to be one of the best entries in the Fallout franchise, and one of the greatest RPGs ever made. With Obsidian Entertainment taking the helm, Fallout: New Vegas plays very similarly to Fallout 3, but it has a ton of its own quirks, from deeper side quests and character interactions, to more of a focus on morally gray choices than simple binary "good" or "bad" options.
Though Fallout: New Vegas still looks and feels like a Bethesda Fallout game, it's these markedly Obsidian narrative and gameplay choices that have led Fallout: New Vegas to feel like such a breath of fresh air for the franchise in recent years. Obsidian brought a lens and toolset that was wholly unique to it, and it's given Fallout: New Vegas a definitive identity of its own in the wider franchise.
Halo Could Thrive With Another Developer Right Now
343 Industries' plate is currently overflowing with responsibilities. Though exact numbers aren't known, it's presumed that the vast majority of 343 Industries is still hard at work on Halo Infinite, ensuring that the game finally lives up to its lofty original expectations. And if there's anyone left at 343 who isn't working tirelessly on Halo Infinite, then it's likely that they're trying to figure out where the next mainline Halo entry should go. Put simply, 343 has enough to think about right now, but that's where a smaller developer could come in.
Just like with Fallout: New Vegas, a different developer could come in and borrow the Halo license for one spinoff while 343 is busy. It'd be far from the first time the Halo franchise has experienced a smaller-scale spinoff, and the desire to see more of the Halo universe and more characters than just the Master Chief has been growing among fans for years now. The Halo universe is so vast and there's so much lore just waiting to be explored. It'd be a win-win for 343 - fans get a new Halo game, and 343 doesn't have to worry about developing it.
