Halo Wars is one example how the franchise is ”actually bigger than its past”, Microsoft Game Studios say they aren’t out just to exploit it.
Exec Phil Spencer says with the RTS they had ”an interesting story, an interesting universe” that could bring more players to the Halo table. Games are planned with selling the console in mind.
”For us, we don’t look at how we can somehow amortize the value that we have in Halo today over as many genres as we can. We think we’re at a point with Halo where the future of the franchise is actually bigger than its past achievements,” Spencer tells Edge.
”You could easily argue that Halo has been the number one piece of content on our platform from the beginning, and maybe it’s even the pillar of why we’re here.”
”With Halo Wars, we thought we had an interesting story, an interesting universe, and we were trying to find ways that we could expose that world to more people, maybe people who aren’t dual-thumb capable,” he continued.
”It’s not as if we’re doing something like Halo Kart. That doesn’t seem to move us forward with the IP.” Developing games isn’t the only thing on the corporate giants mind as they also have an obligation to sell more consoles too, seeing as how they own it.
”…when we’re building a game, we think about how that game is going to sell a console. We think about a customer that doesn’t yet own a 360, and we try to build a model in our head that asks, ‘What is it about this game that’s going to cause somebody … who has not found the 360 to be a console for them … to go buy a 360?’”
”That’s the scenario that’s in our head, be it a sequel or a first-generation IP.”
Was Halo a console seller for you, or did something else give you a nudge?
