Developer 343 Industries has no current plans to make “Halo” adventures for all ages since the franchise is skewed towards a mature audience given the military science fiction theme of the first-person shooter game. But because of the brand presence of the series which appeals to gamers of all ages, the company is considering an option to come up with another game with a “Lego-esque spin-off treatment.”
Microsoft Studios, the parent company of 343 Industries, is studying its options in response to the growing clamor for expansion of the game universe to a wider age range. However, while deliberating on the right game, 343 Industries wants to ensure that its core audience would not be alienated by such a move, Gamerant reported.
“I would say that when we first started the franchise, the thought of doing, like, a Lego Halo game was not something that our core fans thought was interesting, whereas now we’re getting requests for that,” Bonnie Ross, head of 343 Industries said.
What Other Entertainment Franchises Are Doing
However, Ross, who became head of 343 Industries nine years ago, studied other entertainment franchises, including "Batman," "Pokemon," "Lord of the Ring," "Harry Potter" and "Star Wars," to learn how these endured over the decades. She observed that the secret to their longevity was becoming less dependent on their core medium for revenue.
“A lot of their initial businesses, what was the core business at the beginning, changed to a different business,” Ross noted.
Most of it were consumer products such as T-shirts, comics, full-scale replicas and novels, Fastcompany pointed out.
Ross was asked if 343 Industries has plans of expanding the “Halo” franchise. She cited the extended universe of Star Wars and the many different stories that the franchise could tell across various platforms. The corporate vice president of Microsoft Studios said she would like to see success by using a similar approach in “Halo.”
“Halo” is an interstellar war between humanity and the Covenant, a theocratic alliance of aliens. Globally, more than 65 million copies of the games have been sold, grossing 343 Industries almost $3.4 billion.
