260°

Should Microsoft Keep 343 In Charge Of ‘Halo’ Indefinitely?

Halo Infinite is suffering from more delays and cut features. Is the future of the franchise still best handled by 343?

Jin_Sakai640d ago

If you’re having to ask this question you already know the answer.

darthv72640d ago

We know your answer...

But seriously, i have no problem with 343 making halo games. i mean the studio is named for guilty Spark for crying out loud. Keep the studio... just get rid of the bad apples within it that dont understand how a Halo game should be treated. I mean its obvious they have some staff there that might be better suited for other projects. And there are some talented people waiting who would love to bring this franchise back to the glory days.

That seems like a fair compromise.

Noskypeno640d ago

The bad apples in charge of 343 also have had or are in management in Xbox as well. So basically it needs new management, keep Joe Staten in charge and hopefully it can return to the glory days. But that's not a guarantee, because not every Peter Jackson movie is near as good as the original LOTR trilogy, even the best have duds once in a while.

SonyStyled640d ago

I’m not quite sure there would be a studio left from getting rid of the ‘bad apples’ that tarnish the Halo series. The developers had plenty of time and resources for the game to reflect that at launch. Time and money wasn’t the problem. The skills of the employees is. Halo should go to another developer, and I think it’s best if 343 used their creativity to design something new instead of building from an already existing formula they inherited

darthv72640d ago

@above... Nosk you are saying its management and Sony is saying its employees yet both of you are saying the same thing as me. They are the bad apples who need to go. you can gut an entire studio and replace them with fresh new talent. but keep the damn name exactly as it is. Let the new team redeem the name 343 because 343 was created specifically to make Halo games. giving it to some other studio would just be weird.

That's like asking Chevrolet to stop making the Corvette because some other company could make it better. So why not keep the brand at the company and just hire the team to make it better? Why does changing the developer have to be the answer? Rare was gutted right before MS bought them and they struggled for a while before going through some employee changes to be the Rare that is there now. and they have been better now than when they made Grabbed by the Gholies. Still Rare in name even though the players changed.

Do y'all get it yet?? Every big production house didnt start off big. they had to cut the fat and nurture talent and bring in people to get to being great. 343 needs to do the same. i agree the current staff have not been very forthcoming with ideas like Bungie was... but there is no reason why they cant cut the fat and nurture talent and bring in people from the outside and make 343 a quality studio.

VenomCarnage89640d ago

The problem is 343 was hand picked specifically to take MS's singularly most golden franchise and make it soar to new heights. They bombed at their only goal and honestly probably shouldn't exist whatsoever. Split the actual talent into studios they'd actually enjoy working for and move on, the studio is a bust and Halo is going to not even matter to MS anyway after the Activision acquisition

Noskypeno640d ago (Edited 640d ago )

Yeah, I do understand that Joe Staten is a guy that knows what made Halo special and unfortunately he only came in during the final year of development for Halo Infinite but if there is a guy that can make the next game better, it's him. I do understand that even tho the franchise had some duds, Marvel in the 90s had bottom of the barrel movies, like straight to dvd at best and were no where near the quality of it's rivals, and Disney also had a period where the movies weren't good and rebounded, so let's hope that they get a clear vision of what Halo needs to be and not change it and only have the temp contractors assist in areas where they don't change anything important cause thats why 6 years didn't seem long enough cause they felt the need to change things after the last temp guy left.

crazyCoconuts640d ago

Agreed. With the right change in leadership, the rest of the studio will follow. There's nothing to the name other than the people

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 640d ago
neutralgamer1992640d ago

Absolutely NOT!

But a better question is does Ms still care about Halo now that they have COD and overwatch? Halo is no longer competing against COD

crazyCoconuts640d ago

Halo was and still is part of the exclusive IP that is intended to keep people on the Xbox platform vs. PS. Of course MS cares about it, just like they care about Gears and Forza. As much as things look different on the surface I think these fundamentals stay the same

Crows90639d ago

The fact that they took the game free to play answers that question.

frostypants640d ago

Yeah. Nobody in their right mind could say yes.

moriarty1889640d ago

Stupid to even ask that question. No, no and no again. They have shown they are totally inept of running this franchise and have driven it into the ground. Phil Spencer needs to make some changes and quickly or he is just as incompetent as 343.

640d ago
Tex4242640d ago

Not at all. I say give Id Software a chance. Let 343 do their own thing and maybe they'll do something decent.

Old McGroin640d ago

Or maybe Activision if they get the deal across the line.

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50°

Naughty Dog's Neil Druckmann Teases Multiple 'Single-Player' Games in Development

Naughty Dog has multiple single-player games planned.

Read Full Story >>
gamerant.com
100°

Every PlayStation Studios game available now on Windows PC

Windows Central writes: "Many PlayStation Studios games that are ported to PC get dedicated PS5 DualSense support, which allows users to experience haptic feedback and adaptive trigger support without actually having to own a PS5.

According to Hermen Hulst, head of PlayStation Studios, it's still the company's intent to launch the bigger single-player games on PS5 first, before later bringing the games to PC. This might not be the case for multiplayer games however, which are considered okay to launch simultaneously on console and PC."

Read Full Story >>
windowscentral.com
ocelot073d ago

My guess is after god of war. Probably last of us 2 that's a almost 4 year old game now and by the time it's released on pc it will be more than 4 years old or close to 5.

Elda2d ago

Every old Playstation game that is now on PC.

shinoff21832d ago

Right. I definitely see what a headlined from a website named windows central was trying to do though. It's cute little wordplay to help out the green box

Flewid6382d ago

Are PlayStation games no longer good or worth playing once they are old?

Elda2d ago

I'm guessing my comment went over your head.

XiNatsuDragnel2d ago

Good at least they can sell hardware

220°

Former Activision studio Toys for Bob partners with Xbox to publish its first game as an indie

Former Activision studio Toys for Bob partners with Xbox to publish its first game as an indie. This is something of a homecoming, as Microsoft owns Activision.

Read Full Story >>
engadget.com
Obscure_Observer3d ago

Very very early in development. Still, fantastic news!

Let´s GO!!!

Lightning773d ago

I guess.

How come they didnt either let them go or sell Tango and others to another publisher? Not saying Ubisoft, EA would be any better. (Capcome would of treated them right )

At least it wouldn't be MS of all ppl destroying them.

MS really should let go Tango go like they did TFB here.

darthv723d ago (Edited 3d ago )

one was under Bethesda (Tango) the other under Activision (TFB). Clearly each one handled the separations of their subordinates differently.

Obscure_Observer3d ago (Edited 3d ago )

"How come they didnt either let them go or sell Tango and others to another publisher? Not saying Ubisoft, EA would be any better. (Capcome would of treated them right )"

Perhaps because Zenimax and ABK handles such matters differently based on their own internal policies as "independent" publishers.

Whoever, chances are it´s simply because MS didn´t wanted Tango or Austin to be acquired by competitors and develop new bangers for them, giving MS a bad rep in a possible future. Which could also be the reason why they ensured an exclusive partnership with TFB and its new game, before anyone else.

Sad and disgusting. But it is what it is.

Lightning773d ago (Edited 3d ago )

"Whoever, chances are it´s simply because MS didn´t wanted Tango or Austin to be acquired by competitors and develop new bangers for them, giving MS a bad rep in a possible future."

MS has a bad rep now because those studios are no more. I rather them sell the studio continue to make multiplatform releases, while MS continues to focus on whatever they're doing. If they didn't want Tango around they should separated from them or sell them to, like they did TFB.

It's inexcusable, they have options on how to handle studios they don't want anymore with killing jobs. Not just MS but the rest of the industry also.

Sad and disgusting sure how many will get shut down next year or this year even?

I don't trust MS decisions and motivations at this point. You have to admit they make one dumb move after another.

Obscure_Observer2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

"MS has a bad rep now because those studios are no more. I rather them sell the studio continue to make multiplatform releases, while MS continues to focus on whatever they're doing. If they didn't want Tango around they should separated from them or sell them to, like they did TFB."

Imo, MS separated from TFB because they didn´t had a game associated with Xbox yet, unlike Tango.

"I don't trust MS decisions and motivations at this point. You have to admit they make one dumb move after another."

Fair enough. It was indeed an epic dumb move from them to close Tango.

Still, all to be forgotten, like always have. This is not the first time a big publisher shuts down a beloved and/or successful studio out of nowhere and certainly won´t be the last. Do you remember Lionhead? Do you remember Evolution Studios? Yeah... both were beloved studios and yet, those companies kill those studios in q blink of an eye and got away with it.

anast2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

The studio boss made some money from this transaction. Once the game releases, the studio will get chopped up.

-Foxtrot3d ago

Manages to buy their freedom especially after all the shit Microsoft has been doing with its studios lately

...

Goes right back to them as partners.

Okaaaaaay...

darthv723d ago

Id venture a guess that TFB working directly with MS was a better outcome than working through Activision to get to MS.

VersusDMC3d ago

From the article...

"Toys for Bob spun out as an indie back in February after Microsoft instituted sweeping layoffs that impacted 86 employees, which was more than half of the staff"

I doubt those 86 employees enjoyed the Microsoft experience over Activisions.

Inverno3d ago

MS shuts down studios because of lack of resources and then helps these guys by giving em resources. Also MS is what forced them to buy their freedom in the first place? What kind of logic 😂

Chevalier3d ago

The best thing is that the company that is worth $3 trillion and owns the company instead of Xbox lacks resources. How the hell does a company worth $3 trillion making a measly $70 billion purchase they 'can't' support. Lol

BlindMango2d ago

The reason they would need to "partner with Microsoft" is simply to make a game that's part of a franchise that Microsoft owns. Meaning they're probably going to make a new Spyro game - they're still an independent studio, but are making a game in a franchise that Microsoft owns. It's kind of like Remedy partnering with Rockstar to be able to make the Max Payne remakes.

shinoff21832d ago

It was probably the deal to get released from Ms

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 2d ago
Sciurus_vulgaris3d ago (Edited 3d ago )

Xbox’s gaming division seems to still function as 3 semi-autonomous sub-divisions, Xbox Studios, Bethesda and ABK. The three main sub-divisions can seemingly shut down or build studios and set up partnerships independently. This would explain why Bethesda can recently shutdown studios, while ABK spins off one studio, while building a new one. Plus, Toys for Bob could be spun off by ABK, only to immediately re-partner with Microsoft.

Chevalier3d ago

That's absolutely 💯 BS. Any sane 'autonomous' company would NOT put their games on Gamepass day 1 like COD will lose probably billions.

Also they're all under Xbox game studios so any autonomy is an illusion.

PhillyDonJawn2d ago

No, I'm sure MS can and does step in when they want something done specifically but I'm also sure they let them also work independently

shinoff21832d ago

I highly highly doubt this. Ms controls all. The guys aren't gonna be allowed to just shut something down like that without approval. No way

Elda3d ago

Either a kiddie game or something uninteresting.

Obscure_Observer2d ago

Don´t worry. You won´t be playing it anyway since their next game will possible be a next gen Xbox console game.

Elda2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

Don't worry about my comments.

PhillyDonJawn2d ago

Right probably something like astrobot

romulus232d ago

Nah he said "uninteresting", lots of people are interested in Astro Bot.

Elda2d ago

Never Astro Bot. Astro Bot looks better than any exclusive released on XB this entire generation & believe there hasn't been much.

Asplundh2d ago

Crash 4 was good, so I'm hopeful.

PhillyDonJawn2d ago

Hey you said that about SOT and looks like many ppl on PS is playing it. You also found bugsnax interesting ffs your opinion hold no weight lol.

Elda2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

Bugsnax is BS, tried it & quickly deleted it. It's a game that fits right on Gamepass. PS5 owners that are probably playing the boring SOT you could count on one hand. LMAO!!...don't try to come for me.

PhillyDonJawn2d ago

So you admit bugsnax interested you enough to try? 😂 someone gotta call you out on the foolishness.

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