Halo MMO received green light approval before managment canceled
by Dustin Burg 
{ Nov 17th 2008 at 2:00PM }
After hearing about the canceled Halo MMO back in September and taking a look at some of the game's leaked assets, Shacknews questioned Ensemble Studios' Dave Pottinger about the project and why it died away."We had staffed up an almost-40 person team" says Pottinger, claiming that the Halo MMO "had actually been green-lit", but that new Microsoft management axed the game's development soon after. Pottinger also explained that their approach to the Halo MMO mirrored some of the familiar concepts in games like World of Warcraft, but stayed true to the Halo art style and overall action theme. But no, Microsoft says we cannot haz Halo MMO ... not yet.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Robbie @ Nov 17th 2008 5:33PM
I'm so glad that THAT mmo of halo got canceled halo needs a more grounded mmo not some cartoony game..
therpham @ Nov 17th 2008 2:16PM
I think it was a terrible idea, anyway.
No MMO has been able to compete with WoW since it launched, plus every Microsoft-backed one has failed spectacularly.
Erik Stroud @ Nov 17th 2008 10:51PM
I agree, but not because of WoW. I think that the Halo universe just wouldn't be right. It would just be confusing to old fans, and un interesting to new people.
Soulcrux42 @ Nov 21st 2008 3:11AM
i think it makes more sense if it confuses new people and is uninteresting to old fans.
Tony @ Nov 17th 2008 2:19PM
None do compete with WoW in terms of sheer numbers, but that does not mean they can't be successful in their own right. It seems like Square is happy with FFXI, Turbine is happy with LotRO, EA is happy with Warhammer... They're not insane sensations, but they do well. Few other games can claim to have hundreds of thousands of people paying a fee for them after the initial $50 entry fee.
If anything, WoW is the exception. It's the fluke.
I mean, if we applied that else where, the 360 is an outright failure compared to the Wii. Yet I don't think any of us would say it's a failure or a terrible idea.
Either way, I wasn't too sold by the concept shors... although the interview seems to claim that the game was going in a different direction by the time it was canned.
Octantis @ Nov 17th 2008 2:26PM
Regardless of whether it is a good idea. I don't think better your A+ franchise on something unproven is a sound business strategy.
I am really surprised that Halo Wars is coming. But I guess there have been a few RTS games on the 360 so maybe Ensemble learned from their mistakes.
DemonGSides @ Nov 17th 2008 2:32PM
Ensemble's never made an RTS mistake. Their games are golden.
SadisticHam @ Nov 17th 2008 2:36PM
Age of Empires 3.
Pretty big fuck up if you ask me considering how godly 2 was.
Magetto @ Nov 17th 2008 5:21PM
I'm not surprised at all with Microsoft going through with Halo being an RTS, since like Halo was first designed to be an RTS and solely evolved into the shooter we all know of today.
Jimiisama @ Nov 17th 2008 5:51PM
They're making Halo Wars because it's incredibly easy to design an RTS. Most PC games that come out are generic RTS's or Diablo clones; If not, they're generic FPS's made on other company's engines.? Why do you think this is? Because it's ridiculously easy to develop a game like that. Of course it takes time to make a good game, but I think they're banking on the idea that most Halo fans won't tell apart a good RTS from a bad one.
DemonGSides @ Nov 21st 2008 10:49AM
Age of Empires 3. The game that still has a large following a few years after release... is a fuck up?
You're on crack dude.
yolarrydabomb @ Nov 17th 2008 3:59PM
Red light
xenocidic @ Nov 17th 2008 4:57PM
That totally looks like the cliffs outside Razor Hill
Dralthi @ Nov 17th 2008 5:50PM
"but stayed true to the Halo art style and overall action theme."
What? The art style didn't look anything like traditional Halo! It looked like Halo with a badly done WoW paint job.
Ed @ Nov 17th 2008 6:35PM
Can we stop turning everything into a MMOG? I know this will blow people's minds, but not every game IP would make a good MMOG.
Alex Roberts @ Nov 17th 2008 11:40PM
*management
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