How Microsoft tackled the massive task of taking Master Chief to Xbox One (interview)

Halo games have sold more than 60 million copies since the series debut 13 years ago. And Microsoft knows that every one of the fans who have played Halo has different tastes. They all have their favorite moments, and highlighting those moments is one of the more difficult parts of creating Halo: The Master Chief Collection, the Xbox One suite of games that comes out on Tuesday and includes four Halo games that feature theI ho main character Master Chief: Halo Combat Evolved (2001), Halo 2 (2004), Halo 3 (2007), and Halo 4 (2013). Not a bad deal for $60, right?

Microsoft’s 343 Industries has taken these games, added high-definition art where needed, and put them all in a single suite playable on the Xbox One game console. You can go through the series and play any mission, out of sequence, as you wish. You can create “playlists” of missions, like putting together all of the tank missions from all four games. Along the way, Microsoft had to provide both the classic look of the original games, and a modern HD look as well. It also added all-new achievements and a kind of metagame that rewards the completionists who want to get a reward for finishing everything in the set. Gamers may not want to hear about it, but this was a lot of work.