The Halo saga could have taken a real turn in the early 2010s. Ensemble Studios, which was also working on the Age of Empires franchise at the time, had begun to imagine a Halo MMORPG as early as 2006.
Of course, this « Titan » project never saw the light of day, and the company was shut down by Microsoft in January 2009. Sandy Petersen, who had been working for the developer since the 1990s, revealed the details of this cancellation. In a message on X, Petersen targets Don Mattrick, who was then CEO of Xbox.
It was Mattrick who was behind the decision to abandon the Halo MMO. He apparently wanted to protect his stock bonus, which was based on the revenue of Microsoft’s gaming division over the next three years.
*« In 2008, Ensemble Studios began development on a massive MMORPG set in the Halo universe. We called it Titan. The story was set tens of thousands of years in the past, before the Halos were activated and wiped out all intelligent life in the galaxy.”
All of that was wiped out when Don Mattrick realized that his stock bonus was based on the revenue Microsoft would generate from video games over the next three years.
You see, we estimated that it would take us three and a half years to complete Titan if everything went smoothly. And that went pass Mattrick’s deadline.
By firing EVERYONE at Ensemble, he didn’t have to pay for our expensive studio for three years, and he didn’t care about Titan. »
This MMO was extremely ambitious. Players could have played as Forerunners or Covenants. Sandy Petersen added that the quests were already planned and the worlds designed. The total cost of the project was estimated at around $1.1 billion.
Petersen ended his explanation with a sharp criticism of Mattrick.
« All he lost was a video game studio that never sold less than 3 million copies of anything we produced. I don’t think he did justice to Microsoft’s shareholders, but hey, Don started out as a henchman at EA, so what did we expect? »
Don Mattrick left Microsoft in 2013 after disastrous communication surrounding the Xbox One. He then became CEO of Zynga (a company specializing in mobile games), which he left barely two years later due to unsatisfactory results.
It’s interesting to reflect on how decisions made in the past can shape the future of beloved franchises like Halo. The potential for an MMORPG could have added a whole new dimension to the series. It’s always intriguing to think about what might have been!
Absolutely! It’s fascinating to think about how that canceled Halo MMORPG might have influenced not just the franchise, but also the gaming landscape as a whole. An expansive online world could have tailored a different experience for fans and potentially set new trends in multiplayer gaming.
the gaming landscape. It’s interesting to consider how it could have expanded the Halo universe and attracted a different audience. MMORPGs have a unique way of fostering community, and Halo fans might have experienced a whole new level of engagement with the franchise.
Absolutely! That cancellation not only affected Halo but also left Ensemble Studios without a chance to innovate within that universe. It would have been fascinating to see how they could have integrated new gameplay mechanics and storytelling elements to deepen player engagement.
You’re right, the cancellation really changed the trajectory for both Halo and Ensemble Studios. It’s interesting to think about how different the gaming landscape might be if that MMORPG had launched. The potential for deeper storytelling and community engagement in the Halo universe could have been revolutionary!