Halo franchise targeting new generation

The revamp of the original Halo will introduce the franchise to a new generation of fans, says Microsoft.

Original 2001 Xbox launch game Halo will be remade and re-released in November as Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary. Celebrating ten years of the franchise, the game has been rebuilt for the Xbox 360.

As well as appealing to original fans, the franchise can now reach the legions of younger players currently hooked on games like Call of Duty, Microsoft UK’s Xbox & Entertainment director Stephen McGill told MCV.

The tenth anniversary is huge and is a product of great passion. It’s important we celebrate this – the game itself was a huge milestone for us and kickstarted the platform in a lot of ways,” he said.

But the platform has evolved dramatically in that time, so it’s worth going back to show how it still stands up as a product made today.”

While the Anniversary SKU is very much for those who grew up with the franchise”, it also arrives as excitement builds for Halo 4. The game, teased at E3, is due next year and kick-starts a new trilogy – so effectively Halo 5 and 6 are already confirmed, too.

One of the key things with Halo 4 is going back to what made it amazing for people playing the first Halo.

But the people who are 18 years old now were only eight when Halo appeared. They probably didn’t play it. That’s the opportunity the Anniversary pack and then Halo 4 have.”

And what of the competition from a new era of shooters?
McGill said: It’s different to Gears of War, it’s different to Call of Duty. So it stands alongside them.”