E3 2017 was one the most discussed subjects in the tech press this week, and a recent study showed that Xbox One X was the social media winner of the annual game industry’s trade show. The Redmond giant definitely made a strong impression with its new console, though the absence of some popular first-party franchises from Microsoft’s conference disappointed many.
This was especially the case for Halo, the sci-fi shooter franchise that launched with the original Xbox console 15 years ago. Microsoft shared ahead of its E3 media briefing that Halo 6 wouldn’t be unveiled this week, but a new post on Halo Waypoint addressed this much talked-about absence today. And if it wasn’t already clear, Halo developer 343 Industries won’t reveal anything about Halo 6 anytime soon:
For some people – like most who are still reading this blog – the Xbox media briefing was bandied about as much for what it didn’t show, as what it did. Specifically, a new (or old-made-new) Halo title. For some folks, their despair stemmed from a lack of remastered fight-finishing. I know I know, we should have told you ahead of time to not expect anything like that. Others were hoping for a tease of things farther off to come. While there’s little to nothing that can be said on that front, it’s been made clear that we won’t be talking about Halo’s next major title for quite some time. And no, that doesn’t mean Gamescom. Or PAX. Trust us, when we’re ready to begin pulling back that proverbial curtain, you’ll know. It won’t be soon.
As of today, the only thing we know about Halo 6 is that it should fix the biggest complaints Halo fans had about Halo 5 Guardians: first of all, you can expect the next episode to feature more Master Chief, but the game should also bring back the split screen multiplayer option that so many players loved on the previous games.
“One of the absolute best things about Halo is that it isn’t confined to one medium, or to one genre,” added the blog post. Indeed, 343 Industries released new additional content for the RTS game Halo Wars 2 this week, which is better than nothing. Still, Halo 6 would have certainly been a great launch title for the new Xbox One X, one that could have been more appealing than the technically impressive but still slightly niche Forza Motorsport 7. Sound off in the comments if you think this is a missed opportunity for Microsoft.
