Halo 5 News: Microsoft Discusses the Future of Halo

For the first time since the surprise E3 reveal two weeks ago, Microsoft has given some insight into the future of the Halo franchise.

The big question on everyone's mind seems to be whether or not the trailer was for Halo 5, or for another unannounced entry into the long running franchise.

Speaking with IGN, Microsoft Game Studios vice president Phil Spencer stated that, "There was no ambiguity in not putting a number after the game. For me, what we showed wasn't the game. Nobody should be confused on that. I didn't really want to try to show something that was clearly a thought piece by the studio around where Master Chief is in his journey, and then drop the name after it and be somewhat disingenuous about that being the game."

That doesn't tell us much, other than the fairly obvious fact that this wasn't an in-game cinematic.

He continues though saying, "I did want Bonnie to come out and say, 'First-person shooter. Master Chief.' Because they'll get the questions - 'Hey, is this ODST? What are you guys doing?' Bonnie comes out and reaffirms that 343 is building this game. It's Master Chief. It's a first-person shooter at 60 frames per second. It's coming in 2014."

When pressed for an answer on why Microsoft decided to show this trailer without actually revealing a game, Spencer gave a maddeningly ambiguous answer. He states, "If you go back in Halo history, and I've been around all of the Halos since Halo 1... Halo usually has two E3s."

I have no idea what that means, but perhaps a more ardent Halo fan would understand what this "second E3" refers to.

Lastly, many fans have been wondering if a Halo 2 anniversary edition would be incoming, given that 2014 would mark 10 years since its release. To this Spencer states that Microsoft has not yet made up its mind.

"I'll be open," he says. "We have discussions about it. It's more about the right time and making sure that we really would do the right thing for the franchise. The Halo Anniversary that we did was as much about the launch of the first Xbox as well. It was a culmination of many things coming together. It would probably run out of steam if we were trying to think about, 'Okay, what's 10 years old now?' It's definitely more from the game itself, the experience that we're able to bring to market. Less about 'Is the last digit a zero?' in terms of its anniversary"

So to recap, we know so far that 343 is building a new Halo game. It will be a first person shooter running at 60 FPS, and will undoubtedly be on the Xbox One. As far as a Halo 2 anniversary though? That's still completely up in the air.

Halo 4 was released on November 6, 2012, making a 2014 release date for the next numbered entry very likely. The next Halo installment will be a July spin-off game titled Spartan Assault, a top-down third person shooter to be released as a Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 exclusive.