For the past ten years or so, Bungie has invested all of their time into the Halo franchise. With Reach slated for release later this year, the studio will be wrapping up their work on the series and start focusing there efforts on an entirely new project. While there is no doubt that Bungie has done a remarkable job in reinventing the FPS genre on consoles, it is time for them to move on.
While it’s clear that many gamers would love to have more Bungie-crafted Halo in the years to come, it will be exciting to see what new avenues they decide to explore now that the developers are free from the bondage of the Halo IP. What remains to be seen however, is whether or not this is simply a break from the Halo franchise for Bungie, or something more permanent.
In an interview between Joystiq and Bungie’s lead multiplayer designer Lars Bakken, a few hints were dropped as to where Bungie’s relationship with the Halo franchise will lie post Reach. When asked by Joystiq whether or not this will be the last Halo from the studio, Bakken replied, “for Bungie? As far as right now, currently, yes. This is our last Halo Bungie game. Now in the future, who knows? You can never say never, because things change. Maybe ten years down the line we decide to make another Halo game, but for right now, yes. This is it for us.”
It’s only fitting that Bungie allow themselves a ten year break from a franchise that they worked on for ten years. Perhaps this is how Bungie plans to operate in the future: fully dedicating themselves to a franchise for ten years before moving on to something new. It is also quite possible that we may never see another Halo title from Bungie at all; it will depend heavily upon how their next project takes off.
In addition, it is important to consider the work that 343 Industries will be doing in picking up where Bungie leaves off. It is very possible that a major deciding factor in whether or not Bungie decides return to the Halo franchise will be how well Microsoft and 343 Industries handles the series. Perhaps Bungie will feel obligated to return to save the series if work from Microsoft goes south. On the other hand, they may also feel inclined to return if things with their new project don’t go all that well and Microsoft sees continued success with the series. It’s really anyone’s guess at this point.
For now, gamers should rejoice in the fact that Bungie is sending off the series in style.
