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Call of Duty developer Activision is now taking over creation of the next Halo game, and fans are understandably divided about it.
Xbox’s latest shakeup saw a few big developments, most notably the mass layoffs at Halo Studios and the handover of Halo's next title to Activision.
This came as a wildly unexpected move from the company, and one that has sparked no end of debate across social media as fans discuss the future of the Halo franchise and what its next game could look like. Many comments are humorously envisioning a Halo game with absurd amounts of monetization, with wild celebrity skin crossovers a la Nicki Minaj.
“I remember in 2009, the Halo and COD communities were vastly different. We treated each other like different military powers in a war. I remember playing Halo: Reach and bouncing over to Black Ops II and it was a night and day difference in every aspect. I'd never believe that Halo would ever be made by a COD publisher,” one nostalgic player mused on Reddit.
“Bro, Halo Studios lasted less time than it took for them to add Slayer to Halo Infinite,” another joked, referencing how the developer had rebranded itself from Halo Studios to 343 Studios, only to get gutted by Xbox merely two years later.
“Welp, Halo is ruined. About to get hijacked from a Banshee by Nicki Minaj, who also has an Energy Sword that’s purple because someone got a $20 sword skin,” another said.
(@JimLvels) Others have started making memes about what a future Halo game made by Activision might look like, showing Master Chief in several ridiculous varieties of DLC costumes.
While some are fearful that Activision might fumble a new Halo game, others are welcoming this change of hands, given the lukewarm reception to Campaign Evolved. Former Blizzard President Mike Ybarra praised the transition, saying the team at Activision are “not afraid to take risks and deliver a Halo experience that blows people away and sets the stage for the next 10+ years.”
“10 years overdue,” one fan wrote on X. “They have been fumbling the IP since Halo 4, and the only decent thing was MCC, which isn’t even close to how good it used to be on 360.”
“The layoffs suck, and Activision having Halo is uhh… interesting. But I'm cautiously optimistic about the whole restructuring, though I guess I'll wait and see,” another said.
Overall, the broad sentiment seems to be one of tentative optimism; many Halo fans feel that almost anything would be better than the position the series has been in for the last decade, though it remains to be seen if Activision will bring the franchise back into players’ good graces.
In other Xbox news, Undead Labs was also released from the company and is now fully independent and employee-owned, confirming that State of Decay 3 is still in development and on track for a closed beta later this year.
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