In an
interview with GI.biz, Phil Spencer, the head of Microsoft Game Studios, let slip that there are more halo games coming being worked on by "more than two or three teams." Now whether this means separate games or one game is left to be decided but rest assured, Master Chief and the Halo universe are coming back.
"Q: So with the Age franchise, there's a strong echo of Halo, in that it's something you retain the rights to - you just don't need to own the company that's working on it?
Phil Spencer: Well, there's more than one team building Halo games right now. There are more than two or three teams building Halo things right now. Some of them we will own, some of them we won't. It's never been, for me, about who you own or don't own - it's about working with the best creative talent in the industry."
It seems by the phrase "some of them we will own, some of them we won't" that Bungie may be in on new Halo as well, and possibly the rumors of Gearbox making Halo 4 have some fesability. For now all we can do is wait and see.
UPDATE: Kotaku is reporting that according to their sources Ryan Payton, that left Kojima Studios after working on Metal Gear Solid 4, has been hired by Microsoft to work on the Halo project by Peter Jackson.
"Our very reliable sources tell us that Payton has been hired by Microsoft to be the creative director on the upcoming, and still not dead, Peter Jackson Halo game.
The news, very reliable news, comes weeks after we broke the news that Gearbox Director of Technology Corrinne Yu had been hired by Microsoft Game Studios to be Principle Engine Architect for Microsoft's Halo Franchise Team"
Interesting stuff on the Halo front today. Let's see how it all pans out.
The news that Microsoft was closing Age of Empires and Halo Wars producer Ensemble shocked quite a few people, but it also allowed the press to do some digging through their skeleton-ridden closets, and Gamasutra found some very interesting things.
