Summary
TheHalofranchise 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+‘sHaloshow really wasn’t a big hit with fans, with it making some major, unnecessary changes to the universe’s lore. ButHalomight be on the rise once again.
Over the last year or so, 343 Industries has done a surprisingly solid job of bringingHalo Infiniteback 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 ofParamount+‘sHaloshowis set to land in just over a week, and it also looks to be making some big course corrections. TheHalofranchise could be making a comeback, and aFallout: New Vegas-style spinoff could really be the thing to push it over the edge.
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 afterFallout 3,Fallout: New Vegasis still widely considered to be one of the best entries in theFalloutfranchise, and one ofthe greatest RPGs ever made. With Obsidian Entertainment taking the helm,Fallout: New Vegasplays very similarly toFallout 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.
ThoughFallout: New Vegasstill looks and feels likea BethesdaFalloutgame, it’s these markedly Obsidian narrative and gameplay choices that have ledFallout: New Vegasto 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 givenFallout: New Vegasa 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 onHalo 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 onHalo Infinite, then it’s likely that they’re trying to figure out wherethe next mainlineHaloentryshould go. Put simply, 343 has enough to think about right now, but that’s where a smaller developer could come in.
Just like withFallout: New Vegas, a different developer could come in and borrow theHalolicense for one spinoff while 343 is busy. It’d be far from the first time theHalofranchise has experienced a smaller-scale spinoff, and the desire to see more oftheHalouniverseand more characters than just the Master Chief has been growing among fans for years now. TheHalouniverse 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 newHalogame, and 343 doesn’t have to worry about developing it.
