How Microsoft’s 343 Industries came up with its upcoming Halo: The Master Chief Collection (interview)

LOS ANGELES — At this week’s giant Electronic Entertainment Expo tradeshow, Microsoft announced its Halo: The Master Chief Collection disk for the Xbox One. Arriving this fall, the collection will include high-definition and remastered versions of the four Halo games starring Master Chief as well as the Halo: Nightfall digital video series, the Halo 5: Guardians multiplayer beta (playable in December), and more than 100 multiplayer maps.

All of that costs $60, or the price of one new game. And it adds up to a lot more than just a retread of some old games. We talked about this with Bonnie Ross, general manager of 343 Industries, the Microsoft game studio that took over the Halo franchise after Bungie moved on. Here’s an edited transcript of our interview.