The Halo IP is going through a period of transition right now, with Halo Studios seemingly releated to 'support studio' status for the most part, while Activision is building a team to create the next mainline entry in the series.
Lots of industry names have been sharing their takes on this over the past week, including former Halo Franchise Creative Director Frank O'Connor, who worked on the series for a couple of decades until leaving Microsoft in 2023.
According to him, there are three paths that could prove successful for both Xbox and Activision going forward, although he warns that none of them are "easy, guaranteed or necessarily viable".
Here are those three paths (via VGC):
1. "Make a "classic" Halo movement/sandbox/shooter experience tailored to a core audience & scaled to be successful with that core audience and attractive to a broader one so it can grow (not to mention obvious fact that Halo MP is better w. more people playing, by mathematical default)."
2. "Make something new, modern that >reinvents< the game/universe in a surprising but fantastic way. An action/sandbox game (maybe it's a new take on the FPS, maybe it's an action RPG but it's fundamentally different) and succeeds with a combination of strong story, IP use and gets a small head start based on curiosity or loyalty."
3. "Translate Halo IP and sandbox into the [Activision Blizard] comfort zone. Use the player, progression and business models that are proven to work and craft a big annual or semi-annual spectacle and constant content."
In addition to all of this, O'Connor suggests that people from Bungie, Halo Studios and other layoff situations that are "bursting with talent" should be hired for the Activision team, and also warns of a few "do not" scenarios:
Of course, all of this is just one person's opinion on the subject, but it's certainly an interesting perspective given how closely connected the former Halo exec is to the series' past.
He does make sure to highlight that any one of his three paths "COULD" be successful - and obviously it's one thing to put it down on paper, but a whole other challenge entirely to actually pull it off.
سەرچاوەی فەرمی بە زمانی ئینگلیزی: https://www.purexbox.com/news/2026/09/former-halo-exec-outlines-three-paths-that-could-lead-to-successful-games-in-the-future
