Ex-Halo Director Has Advice for Activision's Halo
Frank O'Connor says the next mainline entry should avoid hardware launch cycles and lean on experienced former staff.
With future Halo development now sitting with Activision Blizzard, a former franchise creative director has offered his own recipe for the next mainline game. Frank O'Connor, who worked on the series for more than two decades and served as its franchise creative director from 2003 to 2023, posted the advice publicly in response to another former Xbox staffer. He warned against tying the game to hardware or service launch cycles, against forcing it into a shape or aging platform it cannot support, and against abandoning the sandbox that defines the series.
Beyond the warnings, O'Connor suggested hiring laid-off talent from Bungie, Halo Studios and other teams, describing a deep pool of developers whose ideas were shelved by past shutdowns and cancellations. He sketched more than one possible direction for the franchise, weighing a classic, focused shooter aimed at a devoted core audience against a broader approach. Nothing in his comments amounted to an official plan, and neither Activision Blizzard nor Microsoft has responded to them. The remarks reflect a fanbase anxious about a beloved series changing hands. His post drew attention partly because of who he is and who he was answering.
Tags
- xbox
- business
Sources
Where this story ran: one outlet on 30 September 2026. The summary above is written by GamersGuild; the links go to the original reports.