It’s been a bit of a slow week for Halo, but a huge one for its creator, Bungie. Writing about Bungie in a Halo news round-up may feel like cheating ever so slightly, but it’s important to remember the roots and history of video games, especially during this time when IP is changing hands faster than kids trade nits in the sandpit.
Up Is Down And Left Is Right: Sony Now Owns Bungie
In rather shocking news, Sony acquired the original Halo development studio, Bungie, for $3.6 billion. Some have interpreted this as Sony’s response to Microsoft buying Activision Blizzard King, but these multi-billion dollar deals take more than a few weeks to materialise, so this was likely in the works for a long time.
It may seem odd that Sony paid so much for the studio considering it’s currently only working on Destiny 2, but Sony has plans to make many live-service games in the coming years, so buying out a studio that makes one of the most successful seems like a smart business decision.
As Sony has a huge film and television division also, Bungie IP such as Destiny could grace the silver screen like Naughty Dog’s Uncharted, or move to more long-form narratives, as we’ve seen with the upcoming Halo TV series.
Huge companies buying up developers is bad as it increases the monopilisation of the industry - something that will lead to less competition, creativity, and diversity within the kinds of games we’re offered - but it also leads to some funny quirks. The original unique selling point for the Xbox console is now owned by PlayStation, and PlayStation mascots Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon are now owned by Xbox. What a world we live in.
The Bigger They Are, The Harder They Fall
The Halo Infinite multiplayer beta was a massive success when it shadow dropped back in November, even reaching an all-time concurrent player peak of over 270,000 players on Steam. Now, however, it’s got less than 10,000 people playing on Steam and has also dropped out of Xbox’s top five, despite being free-to-play on both platforms.
There were some teething issues with Halo Infinite’s multiplayer, especially linked to progression, but developer 343 Industries has heard the fan feedback loud and clear and has been working on fixes and adjustments, so it’s surprising to see the game fall from the top of the podium so quickly. It’s hard to compete with the battle royale kings Fortnite and Apex Legends.
Forbes writer Paul Tassi speculates that the reason Infinite is also doing poorly on Twitch is due to audiences simply preferring the newer spectacle of survival games and battle royales over traditional team-based shooters.
There’s always the hope that Infinite will regain players as more updates launch, but it’s becoming increasingly difficult to compete with the big dogs of the online gaming world, as soon-to-be-shut-down Hyper Scape knows all too well.
Can I Speak To A Manager? This Isn’t The Colour I Wanted
Microsoft recently partnered with nail polish maker OPI to offer gamers in-game livery for both Forza Horizon 5 and Halo Infinite when they showed proof of purchase for one of their new colours. However, the first batch of nail polish only gave out codes for Forza skins, leaving some people unhappy. At least their nails look pretty, though. Your aim and driving is better when your nails are taken care of and polished, that’s just science.