Is Microsoft’s Halo franchise going to follow in the footsteps of George Lucas’ Star Wars universe?
Microsoft says its ambitions for Halo extend another six years and that its latest game, Halo 3: ODST, has sold more than 2.5 million copies, or $125 million in sales, since it debuted two weeks ago, according to a story in USA Today.
The stellar launch should put to rest any concerns that the Halo series is getting old; Halo games have now sold more than 27 million units since 2001. Microsoft has revealed that there are more projects are in the works. Bungie’s next big Halo title, Halo: Reach, is expected to launch in the fall of 2010.
But there’s more, says Frank O’Connor, creative director of 343 Industries, which oversees all things Halo at Microsoft. Bungie, the longtime developer of Halo games, spun out last year and is partly owned by Microsoft. Because of that new business structure, it’s quite possible that Bungie won’t make every Halo game. In fact, earlier this year, Microsoft’s now-closed Ensemble Studios created the Halo Wars real-time strategy game for the Xbox 360.
Halo: Reach is a prequel in the Halo universe, since its events relate more to the first Halo novel, Halo: The Fall of Reach, where the invading Covenant aliens first attacked the human race. On top of that, Marvel has creaetd a five-issue series around two of Halo 3: ODST’s main characters. And another news comic series, Halo: Blood Line, will debut in December.
Halo Legends will take the franchise into home video with the launch of seven anime cartoon episodes developed by top Japanese animators. The episodes will be previewed on Microsoft Xbox Live online gaming service on the Xbox 360 thi sfall. Halo: Evolutions, a collection of stories about Halo events, debuts next month, while a new trilogy is out next year. McFarlane Toys also has a sixth set of Halo action figures coming this month.
O’Connor said the Halo movie, which was once being planned with director Peter Jackson, is still on hold. And O’Connor said that Master Chief and Cortana, the two key characters in the first three Halo games, will likely return in the future in the games that will come out over the next six years. That may seem like a ton of content. But if George Lucas could pull it off, maybe Microsoft will succeed as well. All hail the chief.
