In a bit of disappointing news for Halo fans, it's been revealed that 343 Industries had between 20-30 unsuccessful pitches for Xbox's flagship sci-fi shooter franchise, including a return to its popular Halo 3: ODST spin-off story. After a bit of a rocky start, Halo Infinite is still ongoing. While it can't boast nearly the number of player numbers as competitors like Call of Duty or Fortnite, its latest season, named Reckoning, provided a much-needed shot in the arm for the playerbase.

Before Bungie left Microsoft to pioneer the modern live service model with Destiny, its handling of Xbox's most important property was incredibly well-received. One of its most highly praised titles, Halo 3: ODST, followed up the third mainline game two years later with a darker side story based around a group of Orbital Drop Shock Troopers exploring the ruined city of New Mombasa. With ODST having a smaller scale than the mainline series, the game took only 14 months to make. Since 343 Industries was created to take control of the franchise after Bungie's departure, many Halo fans have been clamoring for more smaller spin-off stories in the same vain as ODST.

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On Twitter, a former lead designer at 343 Industries, Kevin Schmitt, spilled the beans that, over a span of 12 years at the studio, there had been 20-30 pitched ideas for Halo that "would have totally worked in the Halo universe." He mentioned that several of these pitches involved returning to the beloved ODST side story with both single and multiplayer experiences. Schmitt also mentioned that some of these pitches focused on more intimate character stories, and that one of them was a much darker idea.

It's unknown whether it was the 343 studio heads or Xbox leadership that were shutting down all these interesting Halo ideas. Schmitt did mention all these pitches taking place over the span of 12 years. Recent years have seen an Xbox that has allowed many of its first-party teams to continue working on smaller passion projects, such as Obsidian's Pentiment and Grounded, Tango Gameworks' Hi-Fi Rush, and others. Perhaps many of these pitches took place before Xbox adopted its current mindset, back when it was possibly more careful and risk-averse when it came to its defining flagship franchise, Halo. With the massive undertaking that was getting Halo Infinite and its new Slipspace engine off the ground, perhaps the studio didn't have the time or resources to devote to another side project either.

The Future Of Halo At 343

With Halo Infinite still ongoing after more than two years, 343 Industries has yet to announce any plans for what's next for Halo. Since it seems like the studio may be moving on from Halo Infinite as a 10-year platform, perhaps it has new plans for smaller, story-focused titles like ODST and Reach. Whatever 343 is planning next, it's likely that fans are still several years away from hearing about it.

Halo Infinite

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Halo Infinite is the latest entry in the long-running Halo series. A first for the franchise, this game is open-world, features a grapple system, and more.

Platform(s)

Xbox One , Xbox Series X , Xbox Series S

Released

December 8, 2021

Developer(s)

343 Industries

Publisher(s)

Xbox Game Studios

Genre(s)

First-Person Shooter

Franchise

Halo

Multiplayer

Online Multiplayer

Engine

Slipspace

ESRB

T for Teen: Blood, Mild Language, Violence

How Long To Beat

12 Hours

X|S Enhanced

Yes

File Size Xbox Series

90 GB (November 2023)

Metascore

87

Platforms That Support Crossplay

PC, Xbox One & Xbox Series X|S

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