The Xbox classicHalo: Combat Evolvedis looked back on fondly by many, and the franchise still remains as one of the biggest heavy hitters for Microsoft’s console. But during the original game’s development, there were no guarantees that the game would be successful. In fact, the originalHaloalmost shipped without one of its most defining factors — multiplayer.
In a massive feature called “The Complete, Untold History of Halo,” one of the former developers at Bungie who worked on the game, Jaime Griesemer, says that multiplayer didn’t seem fun and was almost cut until the last minute beforeHalowas finished:
“Multiplayer was also kind of bad until very shortly before the game shipped. You would just shoot at a guy forever, and they wouldn’t die.”
According to another former Bungie developer, Max Hoberman (who would go on to continue working on the future ofHalo’s multiplayer maps with 343 Industries), says that the design ofHalo’s multiplayer and how fun it ended up being in the final game was a bit of a happy accident:
“The original plans for multiplayer, pre-Microsoft even, were always to do something less head-to-head and more arena-based. OnHalothe team just ran out of time and ended up shoehorning it in. It was never really by design, the way it worked. It was just a scramble to get something done.”
It’s lucky that the chips fell where they did, asHalobecame arguably the most popular game on the original Xbox and influenced console shooters for years to come. As another former dev, Paul Bertone puts it, hadHalonever had multiplayer, that “would’ve been an obvious tragedy.”
It’s interesting to hear how much a game can change during its development and how different decisions can pay off (or not). The feature on the history ofHalois definitely worth a read for fans of the original game, and tells even more about stories about Bungie’s hit sci-fi shooter.
For instance, Microsoft hated the nameHalo, calling it “feminine” and not descriptive of a game about a futuristic super soldier shooting aliens. After considering alternate titles, Microsoft came back with adding theCombat Evolved subtitle, which it seems Bungie collectively hated as much as Microsoft disliked the nameHalo. But it stuck and Bungie didn’t fight it.
Halo: Combat Evolvedwas created by Bungie, who worked on the franchise throughHalo: Reachin 2010. Now, the series continues under the Microsoft game studio, 343 Industries.
The next major entry in the game,Halo 6, is in development at 343, but Microsoft says the game will bea no-show for E3this year and will not be releasing in 2017.
