Joystiq

Halo MMO had $90 million budget, canceled as Microsoft eyed 'casual, broader audience'

Ben Gilbert — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 21:30:00 EST

Over the past couple of years, we've seen dribbles of information here and there about the canceled Halo MMO, but a recent conversation IncGamers had with ex-Ensemble Studios employee Dusty Monk (yep, that's his real name) revealed not only the exorbitant cost of the planned development (three years of which took place before the game was canceled), but much, much more. First and foremost, the game's development was said to cost $90 million, as you likely inferred from the headline above. Second, the game was intended to be a "WoW killer," according to Monk.

"It was absolutely going to compete against WoW. You have to remember that Ensemble came from a standpoint of being really good at competing against Blizzard Entertainment," Monk said, using the Age of Empires series as an example. Unfortunately for the folks at Ensemble working on "Titan" (the codename for the Halo MMO), the launch and subsequent blistering success of the Nintendo Wii allegedly altered the direction that Microsoft wanted to take. "Microsoft, from its gaming division, was really changing directions. They were looking really hard at the Nintendo Wii and they were really excited by the numbers that the Wii was turning. This was about the time that Microsoft decided that its Xbox platform and XBLA really needed to go more in the direction of appealing to a more casual, broader audience." Given that new direction and what Monk calls a "very expensive, very long, and very protracted" development, Microsoft eventually shut down the project.

But hey, at least we got Halo Wars, right? Right?!

Halo MMO had $90 million budget, canceled as Microsoft eyed 'casual, broader audience' originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 12 Apr 2010 21:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Massively week in Review

Joystiq Staff — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, Features, PC, MMO

Joystiq's sister site Massively.com has all the news you'll need about MMOs. Here's the best, brightest, and most interesting stuff from the last week, all in one convenient place for your MMO minute.

	Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria launches! The official patch notes are up on the forums, and the servers went live at midnight with all the new content! We've collected up all of our best pieces of news and information on Turbine's latest ... check it out!
	EverQuest II: The Shadow Odyssey Launches! Massively has been following the expansion's lifecycle since it was announced at this year's SOE Fan Faire, and today we've put together the best of all our content touching on this brand-new chapter in the EQ2 saga. Read on for all the details!
	And the first World of Warcraft player to reach level 80 is... Nymh, Human Warlock of the EU server Drek'thar (and the real-world country of France) became the first World of Warcraft player to reach level 80.
	Further details emerge on the canceled Halo MMO Shacknews had the chance to speak with Ensemble director of technology Dave Pottinger, who had quite a bit to say about the Halo MMO. The biggest surprise revealed was that the game had gotten a green light and was in development for a good length of time before leadership changed at Microsoft, and the title was canceled.
	Cryptic may be porting Champions / Star Trek Online to the PS3 Cryptic Studios has shown their superhero game playing quite well on Microsoft's console at events all through the summer con season. Now it seems as though they're looking to bring those games to the PlayStation 3 as well.

Continue reading Massively week in Review

Massively week in Review originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 19 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Halo MMO received green light approval before managment canceled

Dustin Burg — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: News, Halo Wars

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.

Halo MMO received green light approval before managment canceled originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 17 Nov 2008 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Canceled Ensemble title was Halo MMO

Richard Mitchell — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 11:45:00 EST

Filed under: News

Gamasutra has discovered that a canceled project at Ensemble Studios -- soon to be shuttered by Microsoft -- was in fact a Halo MMO. The game was supposedly in development in 2006 and part of 2007, which would jive with rumors that were circulating at the time. Gamasutra managed to dig up some of Ensemble's concept art and mocked up screenshots of what the game would have looked like. Taking a look at the screenshot, it's clear that the game's interface would have borrowed heavily from World of Warcraft, while the concept art shows off a dual sword wielding Spartan with what appears to be an AI companion standing (floating?) behind him. The 'magic' energy of the game was apparently refered to as Psion, so perhaps the AIs would have been part of the game's magic system.

Alas, the game is kaput, though it's unclear exactly why it was canceled. It could be that a similar game was also in the works, a likely possibility given how many teams are currently working on Halo projects. Then again, maybe it was canceled when Ensemble realized it would get pretty boring if everyone picks Master Chief.

[Thanks to everyone that sent this in. Via Joystiq]

Canceled Ensemble title was Halo MMO originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 23 Sep 2008 11:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Canceled Ensemble project was Halo MMO

Ross Miller — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 10:31:00 EST

Filed under: PC, Microsoft Xbox 360, First Person Shooters, Online, MMO

With Ensemble now disbanded, Gamasutra reveals one of its big projects that never saw the light of day: a Halo MMO. According to various reports, it appears that the game was in development for some time during 2006 and 2007 before being canceled. Seen above, a shot of the UI and an action pose of a Spartan duel-wielding. The design, from what little we can see of it, borrows a lot from World of Warcraft's simplicity and (judging by the dual-wield screenshot) hokeyness.

We understand there are reasons for cancellations, but this seems like a money printer on par with Pokémon and Blizzard's aforementioned MMO, regardless of quality. As Microsoft's Phil Spencer recently mentioned to GamesIndustry.biz, there are "more than two or three teams" working on Halo projects at the moment, so the MMO concept might not be entirely dead.

Canceled Ensemble project was Halo MMO originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 23 Sep 2008 10:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Halo Chronicles alpha evidence is fake [update]

Richard Mitchell — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Rumors

Update: Looks like there is no Halo Chronicles alpha after all, as HBO has learned from Bungie's Luke Smith that the evidence is "100% fake."

According to AddictGaming.com, a Bungie employee has been spotted on Xbox Live* playing a game called Robins Perch. What's interesting is the descriptive text that follows: "Chronicles Alpha - Exploring Onyx." Chronicles, eh? Could that be Halo Chronicles, the upcoming collaboration between Peter Jackson and Bungie? We thinks it can. Why the codename Robins Perch though? Considering the Halo 3 alpha was codenamed Pimps at Sea -- the name of Bungie's long awaited piratical pimp simulator -- Robins Perch could be a play on Crow's Nest (the nautical term, not the Halo 3 level). Cute.

The part about exploring Onyx is particularly intriguing, as it implies there could be more than one planet to traverse. Could Halo Chronicles be the Halo MMO that has been rumored for ages? Whatever it is, hopefully the appearance of the alpha means we'll finally hear some solid news about Halo Chronicles soon (at a special event perhaps).

*Note: We can confirm that the gamertag spotted does indeed belong to a Bungie employee. We won't be giving it out for the sake of privacy.

[Thanks, Richard D]

Halo Chronicles alpha evidence is fake [update] originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 01 Aug 2008 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Would You Rather ... Spartans! Edition

Xav de Matos — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 12:45:00 EST

Filed under: Fan stuff

In our continuing effort to bring you fresh and interesting content, X3F presents Would You Rather ... a weekly feature that asks you the hard questions. The point? If you had to choose one or the other, which would you go for?

In week two of WUR we ask you to decide between a true sequel to Halo in the form of Halo 4 or a Halo first-person massively multiplayer online title. So, putting the Halo storyline aside, we want to know:

Feel free to share the reasons for your vote in the comments. We'll share the results of the poll during the next edition of Would You Rather ... which hits X3F every Wednesday.

Last weeks surprising results can be find after the jump ... Engage!

Continue reading Would You Rather ... Spartans! Edition

Would You Rather ... Spartans! Edition originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 20 Feb 2008 12:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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