Halo series to continue through 2015

By Tor Thorsen, GameSpotPosted Oct 8, 2009 3:06 pm PT

343 Industries' Frank O'Connor says Microsoft has multimedia plan for sci-fi franchise that "goes out at least six years"; Halo 3 not the end of Master Chief/Cortana storyline.

Right now, it's unclear if Bungie will continue making Halo games after next year's Halo: Reach. However, Microsoft has no plans to abandon its bread-and-butter Xbox 360 franchise until well into the next decade--at the earliest.

Microsoft didn't mention how Mountain Dew and Doritos will figure into the six-year Halo storyline.

After telling USA Today that Halo 3: ODST had sold 2.5 million units in two weeks, Frank O'Connor, creative director for Microsoft Halo label 343 Industries, laid out his company's vision for the franchise. "We do have a plan that goes out at least six years," O'Connor told the daily.

Specifically, O'Connor pointed to [SPOILER WARNING] Halo 3's legendary-setting ending as a jumping-off point for the main storyline's continuation. "I think that [the Master Chief's] fate, Cortana's fate and the identity of that giant, dark planet at the ending are probably big mysteries that would be irritating if they were just cliffhangers," he said.

With the next Halo game, Halo: Reach, confirmed as being a prequel (as was expected), the future of the Master Chief storyline will continue in a variety of properties, including games, books, comics, and animated efforts like the forthcoming Halo Legends, due out next year. "Eventually, it will become very apparent that there is a plan for the way the canon all ties together and the way the comic books and the novels all tie together," said O'Connor.

SPARTANs aren't Highlanders--there can be more than one.

The next Halo book, the short-story compilation Halo: Evolutions, will be published this November by Tor Books. The imprint has also commissioned a trilogy of new Halo novels from Greg Bear, author of such acclaimed books as Blood Music and The Forge of God, to begin next year.

As far as comics go, Marvel is currently halfway through its limited series Halo: Helljumper, which profiles the same sort of Orbital Drop Shock Troopers featured in Halo 3: ODST. The new series Halo: Blood Line (pictured bottom), which chronicles a group of Master Chief's SPARTAN comrades, will begin on December 23.

722 Comments

  • John745

    Posted Nov 12, 2009 4:44 pm PT

    It makes my day that people just don't get that THERE WILL BE NO HALO 4. Halo 3 is the end of the MC storyline. I laughed reading that, even after the article clearly not mentioning any plans for a sequel to Halo 3, there are still little kids going, "Why are they waiting till 2015 to make the next game?" Halo's great and all, but Bungie knows where to stop that storyline. Reach is a prequel, and its possible MC will be in it, as he was on Reach during the fall... But I wouldn't see him as being the sole main character.

  • solidniko

    Posted Nov 9, 2009 5:25 pm PT

    they have done nearly everything to halo series what else can they do before it becomes boring?

  • robheisel

    Posted Oct 31, 2009 11:45 am PT

    why r they making the next game 2015 thats along way to go

  • Menelick

    Posted Oct 29, 2009 1:15 am PT

    while the bungie brain boxes are killing themselves to make halo games good ones,microsoft is just happy to paste its logo(the game rocks though)...but jokes apart the halo games need a "worthy" movie,i wonder what the writers guild of the US are doing?

  • jeffv541

    Posted Oct 22, 2009 3:08 pm PT

    Halo is buttcheese

  • itachi100

    Posted Oct 18, 2009 8:32 pm PT

    Mario needs to know when to give up. That was ever since the Wii was released. But they never do. Final Fantasy is a game that is completely devoid of entertainment after completion. The fans want more. That's why there are so many games in the franchise. Plus it's been going on since the 80s, You can't say it'l only have 3 games after that. Halo should end with this.

  • kingNael96

    Posted Oct 17, 2009 1:37 pm PT

    halo is is awesome

  • mike2640

    Posted Oct 16, 2009 12:16 am PT

    It's no surprise; Halo makes money like crazy. However, as long as the quality of the series doesn't drop, I won't complain. There are plenty of Mario and Zelda games out there, but we don't mind because they're still great games. I know it's different because those games aren't story-driven like Halo, but my point is that as long as the Halo games are still well-made, go ahead and keep making them if you want, Bungie. As long as you don't destroy the story by doing it.

  • Darkbeyond

    Posted Oct 14, 2009 6:41 pm PT

    Dude as long as Halo is around Bungie will always be there GO HALO

  • RomanGuy

    Posted Oct 14, 2009 4:35 pm PT

    Bungie said they are done with Halo games, but apparently Microsoft isn't. If Bungie doesn't make next Halo game, I'm not buying it.

  • lahdeedah

    Posted Oct 14, 2009 3:36 pm PT

    Not surprised..

  • Tharkun89

    Posted Oct 13, 2009 11:15 pm PT

    as far as Halo Reach goes.... as long as they hold true to the stories Eric Nylund told in the Halo books, it should be an amazing experience. the idea of a squad of spartans alone makes me shake in anticipation. if they can acquire the same epic experience as the book, this game will hav no problem being one of the best halo installments of all time.

  • Tharkun89

    Posted Oct 13, 2009 11:11 pm PT

    the chief did not die in halo 3, watch after the credits after u beat it on legendary.
    -------------------------------------------SPOILER--------------------------------------
    he is on a dead ship with cortana and is put into cryo-sleep, which leads me to believe that Bungie will be making a brand new Marathon game, which takes place 200 years after the events of Halo 3.

  • 9thedevilmaycry

    Posted Oct 13, 2009 3:26 pm PT

    mybye there will be a 2 d shooter of halo

  • kvan33 posted Oct 13, 2009 1:24 pm PT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    kvan33

    Posted Oct 13, 2009 1:24 pm PT (hide)

    What are they talking about? Master Chief died in Halo 3. They said so at the end, and then the credits ran. Of course I didn't watch all the credits, but I'm sure I didn't miss anything.

  • Tertianfire

    Posted Oct 13, 2009 12:08 pm PT

    Maybe it won't just be games? Microsoft said Multimedia plans......

  • MSG-Deathscythe posted Oct 13, 2009 2:57 am PT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    MSG-Deathscythe

    Posted Oct 13, 2009 2:57 am PT (hide)

    how much more can one milk a dead cow?

  • Crazy-C527

    Posted Oct 12, 2009 7:46 pm PT

    Dont get me wrong I love all the halo games its just that I would want to see Bungie do something new and original

  • 9thedevilmaycry

    Posted Oct 12, 2009 5:58 pm PT

    Halo 4 anyone?

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