Microsoft Killed Ensemble's Halo MMO

[DoctorFinger]

When news came down earlier this year that Microsoft was shuttering Ensemble Studios after they finished with Halo Wars - the real-time strategy title based in the Halo universe - I was shocked. I was possibly even gob-smacked. Now that the end is in sight for the studio, they seem to have opened up about some of the projects which never saw the light of day, including the Halo MMO, which had advanced past the idea phase and was actually green lit by Microsoft before being canned.

Shacknews sat down with Ensemble's director of technology Dave Pottinger, who spilled some of the beans on their aborted Halo MMO.
Shack: What were the circumstances behind the Halo MMO?

Dave Pottinger: Ensemble has been wanting to make an MMO for a long time. That was in production for a long time. The Halo IP was a great IP to launch an MMO with. Microsoft... hasn't had the best track record with those.

And we worked on it for a long time--we had staffed up an almost-40 person team. And then there was some reorganization at Microsoft, and the new bosses thought it wasn't the best idea anymore. It had actually been green-lit, and then it got cancelled after that.

Shack: So you guys were feeling good about it?

Dave Pottinger: Yeah, we were happy with it. It was a long road to go, and we had proved the gameplay we wanted to prove.
--
Shack: From the screenshots that were leaked, it seemed very World of Warcraft-esque. Was that your model?

Dave Pottinger: Yeah. It's a popular one.

Shack: Was the concept such that there were Covenant and UNSC factions, in the same way that WoW has Horde and Alliance?
Dave Pottinger: It was more broken up than that. The Covenant weren't quite the Covenant yet.While it's true that Microsoft's track record with MMOs is pretty bad (at least 3 different MMOs were developed by MS expressely for the two Xboxes, none ever saw market) it seems like a Halo MMO would be a no-brainer. The 'it prints money' meme has grown a bit tired, but in this instance it would be very fitting. To be fair to MS, it's very possible that the product Ensemble was cooking up wasn't up to snuff, and I'd rather see no Halo MMO than a poor one. But it's one of those properties which just screams out for the massively multiplayer treatment, and it's one of the few which could bring a whole new cross section of gamers to the MMO table. So don't assume that just because Ensemble is no longer developing the game, that MS isn't actively considering the idea.

Source - Shacknews (http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/55941).

[Re3x]

Stop crying from what they showed it looked like ass.

[Goronmon]

Someone needs to make an epic hybrid shooter/space MMO based in the Halo universe.

[Disgustipated]

Thank god they shut it down. The Halo MMO looked like complete dog-shit and then some.

[violent]

Halo Chess or Halo Golf. Only way you'd sell me.

[VerseD]

This looked terrible anyway. Now a Planetside-style Halo MMO, that's something I could go for.

[Mike Kelehan]

Halo Chess or Halo Golf. Only way you'd sell me.

They could've both been minigames in the MMO.

[violent]

They could've both been minigames in the MMO.

Mmo shmemmo, gimme the golf.

[Telefrog]

It was a horrible, horrible idea. Frankly, I'm surprised that a company with such a great pedigree as Ensemble wasted so much time and money on it.

[Shjinta]

Thank god they shut it down. The Halo MMO looked like complete dog-shit and then some.

90% of all games look like complete shit that early on in development.

[Sandman]

I wouldn't touch a Halo MMO with a ten foot pole anyway.

[Disgustipated]

90% of all games look like complete shit that early on in development.

Not like this. This looked like Halo fucked World of Warcraft in the ass and somehow a baby came out. It was that bad.

[violent]

Not like this. This looked like Halo fucked World of Warcraft in the ass and somehow a baby came out. It was that bad.

That's not how babies happen D.

[Variable Gear]

It did look pretty stupid in the released screenshots, but, done right, a Halo MMO would be a huge hit.

[violent]

It did look pretty stupid in the released screenshots, but, done right, a Halo MMO would be a huge hit.

I think it would for a while. I'm certainly on the philosophical boat of "everything is possible" but honestly, I don't see anyone taking away WoW's players unless it's with some drastic evolution in the genre.

[Telefrog]

It did look pretty stupid in the released screenshots, but, done right, a Halo MMO would be a huge hit.

I don't even think it looked all that bad based on the concept shots. I think the very concept was stupid.

Halo players, for the most part, are a very different crowd from the MMO players. Expectations aren't in line at all between the two. I'm sure there would've been some crossover, but not enough to make any sense.

[Variable Gear]

I don't even think it looked all that bad based on the concept shots. I think the very concept was stupid.

Halo players, for the most part, are a very different crowd from the MMO players. Expectations aren't in line at all between the two. I'm sure there would've been some crossover, but not enough to make any sense.
Ahh...but think about the potential revenues... :o

In seriousness, I agree that there's not much agreement between the average Halo fan and the average MMO player. Too many concessions would need to be made in favor of both groups in order to get everyone interested, and, at that point, there wouldn't be much substance left.

[Karmakin]

Fonz < Shark

That's what this would be.

[Telefrog]

Ahh...but think about the potential revenues...

I'm sure that's exactly what everyone involved thought at first. :D

[KingGorilla]

So that brings the tally of MMOs that Microsoft partially funded and then killed to like 6 now, officially?

[MagGnome]

Microsoft and MMOs clearly do not mix.

The same goes for pretty much every publisher. I'm glad that the flood of MMOs over the last several years has slowed to a trickle, although I fear that a flood of announcements is just around the corner.

[MalReynolds]

i want a halo MMO as much as i wants a KOTOR MMO .....

[Kelegacy]

Give me a Halo RPG, not an MMORPG. I'd really like to see a good RPG in the Halo universe. I'm not a huge fan of the series, but that's something I could get behind.

[Blue]

i want a halo MMO as much as i wants a KOTOR MMO .....

That could technically go either way.

[KingGorilla]

I was going to say, I too want a Halo MMO as Much as a KOTOR MMO. Much the same as I want herpes as much as I want the gout.

[J Arcane]

I think at this point, that if you are a developer making an MMO, getting anywhere near Microsoft is clearly some kind of suicide move.

Honestly, I suspect the very fact they were making an MMO was probably why MS axed the studio.

[Squidbot]

Stop crying from what they showed it looked like ass.

Thanks for the insightful, well communicated feedback.

[Variable Gear]

Give me a Halo RPG, not an MMORPG. I'd really like to see a good RPG in the Halo universe. I'm not a huge fan of the series, but that's something I could get behind.
If it's turn-based, I'd be interested in a Halo RPG. That'd be really strange, though. :p

[KingGorilla]

Thanks for the insightful, well communicated feedback.

I know that for many of the MS diehards, once a person leaves the fold, their name is burned from the record, and you get a week in the stockade for mentioning their name. But Ensemble was a great game studio, and made great RTS titles. The worst thing they may have done was how bloated Age 3 was. Why the hate for a not even in Alpha bit of concept video and play for the Halo MMO?

People are reacting as if Mark Wilson and John Romero had their hands on the game.

[Disgustipated]

I know that for many of the MS diehards, once a person leaves the fold, their name is burned from the record, and you get a week in the stockade for mentioning their name. But Ensemble was a great game studio, and made great RTS titles. The worst thing they may have done was how bloated Age 3 was. Why the hate for a not even in Alpha bit of concept video and play for the Halo MMO?

People are reacting as if Mark Wilson and John Romero had their hands on the game.

You are such a fucking idiot sometimes. MS die-hards? Almost everyone regrets Ensemble's passing.

But a lot of people think the Halo MMO looked like shit, even Halo-addicts.

How do you come up with this bullshit?

[KingGorilla]

How do you come up with this bullshit?

I know how to read, Geordie LaForge taught me. Take a Look.

[BigJonno]

The MS and MMO thing bugs me. Why don't they just swear off the damn things altogether? It's got to be preferable to letting people pour time, effort and passion into a project, getting the public all excited and then canning it.