The Halo franchise is one of the most influential and iconic IPs throughout the entire gaming industry, finding its roots in 2001 and being a relative mainstay of the FPS genre ever since. It is no secret that the series holds a level of prestige that not many other franchises can compete with, yet the contemporary optics of the IP are rather bleak.
Many are of the opinion that Halo has declined in quality with more recent releases, with fans using the likes of the massively successful titles Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 3 as the kind of barometer that any other installments should be hoping to match. With the most recent release of HaloInfinite leaving a sour taste with many fans, a high-profile deal between Microsoft and Activision Blizzard may herald the final chance for Halo to re-establish itself as a franchise worth pursuing for Microsoft.
The Microsoft Activision Blizzard Acquisition
Microsoft announced its intentions to acquire Activision Blizzard in January 2022, with the deal still being a point of intense international scrutiny to this day. The scale of the deal is evidenced in its potential price, with the reported $68.7 billion acquisition being an industry-topping figure, should the deal be finalized.
This acquisition came among a spate of prior acquisitions made by Microsoft, with the tech giant having already purchased Minecraft developer Mojang and The Elder Scrolls and Fallout developer Bethesda. While these prior purchases have a huge amount of influence in and of themselves, the potential Activision Blizzard deal would undoubtedly be the most high-profile and influential Microsoft acquisition to date.
The power that this acquisition could hand Microsoft has led to a predictably large amount of backlash from international regulators and industry competitors, with Sony arguably being the most vocal opponent to the deal. The deal has already seen Microsoft be sued by the FTC and face a spate of regulatory hearings across the globe, although many key decisions towards finalizing the deal have gone Microsoft's way in recent months.
What the Activision Blizzard Acquisition Means For Halo
The main driving force behind the Activision Blizzard deal is the amount of high-profile and iconic IPs that the acquisition would give Microsoft ownership of. Should the deal be finalized, huge franchises such as World of Warcraft, Overwatch, Diablo, and Call of Duty would come under the Microsoft name, which would in turn allow the company to have a great position of power and sway when it comes to these IPs.
With this in mind, many are already questioning what will come of older Microsoft franchises if this acquisition is finalized. Halo is perhaps the IP with the most question marks surrounding it thanks to this pending acquisition, with Call of Duty being a somewhat comparable FPS franchise that is capable of dwarfing the pull-power of the Halo series.
Microsoft recently put a lot of stock into Halo with the 2021 release of Halo Infinite, although a lack of content at launch and a controversial live-service approach to multiplayer saw the game be considered a failure by many. With this recent controversy already looming over the Halo franchise, the addition of the likes of Call of Duty and Overwatch to the Microsoft roster could be the final nail in the coffin for the sci-fi IP.
In this way, it is likely that Halo finds itself at a crossroads in which it has one more opportunity to prove its longevity and positive fan reception to Microsoft. While nothing is currently known about the next potential Halo installment, it is likely that the release will have the weight of the entire franchise on its back in what will be a pivotal sink-or-swim moment for the iconic IP.