Has Halo lost some of its popularity?

[JuanLatino]

Let's not forget the critical acclaim (Metascore) the previous games had

Halo - 97
Halo 2 - 95
Halo 3 - 94
Halo Reach - 91
Halo 4 - 87
Halo 5 - 84

it feels like the franchise went from Top Tier Game of the Generation Games to solid/great Games, which is not bad per se, but given the high standard and acclaim of the past it could have tarnished the standing of the IP

If the next God of War or Naughty Dog Game had these scores, it would probably also affect them , given the extremely high standard and expectations we are used to

Same happened to Final Fantasy Games, while they still do well, their reputation and standard is far from the glory days

 

[Betty]

I think if the new game looks really big and scope and epic then people who abandoned the series in the last few years will return. If they can recapture that magic of the original Halo trilogy from Bungie. They need to go big, it needs to be gorgeous, have an epic story, great multiplayer, etc. If they can nail all of this down then I suspect people will come running back.

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Yeah, if it's good, like really good, I can see myself wanting the new Xbox for it alone.

And I didn't even play Halo 5 and wasn't impressed with 4.

 

[MysticGon]

Hard to say without sales or player numbers. But something tells me it's ripe for the battle royale genre.

 

[7thFloor]

Obviously?

 

[Richietto]

Call of Duty really did a number on pretty much every FPS at the time. If your multiplayer wasn't like CoD you were doing it wrong. Every game after CoD4 treated its multiplayer the exact same except worse. Arena shooters just fell out of style. Hopefully Halo Infinite brings it back in a big way.

 

[Anth0ny]

Halo 3's launch was the biggest game launch of all time. It felt absolutely MASSIVE.

Then COD4 happened and the momentum shifted. Halo hasn't managed to bounce back.

I think launching their next console with a Halo was a good idea, now they just need to execute.

 

[Stonebeard]

Yeah i think halo 4 and 5 kind of soured a lot of people on the franchise.

 

[Lumination]

Halo left me behind trying to chase its competitors. Instead of doing something different, they just did the same thing with a meh twist. I'll always try out the latest and greatest, but I've stopped looking forward to them. Let the fans who stuck with it or new ones they pick up with their new style of gameplay enjoy what they have.

 

[SirNinja]

Not even a question; it absolutely has lost quite a bit of popularity. The releases of Halo 2 and 3 were industry events. 4 had a gigantic release as well, but then people started playing it only to find a lackluster campaign with annoying enemies, and a multiplayer mode whose player count drastically sank after just a week or two. Halo 5 had an even worse campaign (but better multiplayer, fortunately), but by then CoD had definitively taken the crown.

Halo is still a very popular series, and it continues to sell well. But it unquestionably isn't the juggernaut it used to be. The MCC on Steam will definitely give it a shot in the arm, and Infinite looks like a very promising release, but neither will take the franchise anywhere close to Halo 3-launch levels.

 

[MAX PAYMENT]

Halo has lost some popularity, but Infinite will be the biggest next gen launch title.

 

[jroc74]

The Bad news: Halo will never be as big as Halo 3. 343i made a lot of mistakes in each of their releases, Halo MCC ( Matchmaking), Halo 4 ( MP) and Halo 5(SP), so technically they haven't made a great(ccomplete) game yet.

Good News: 343i never had the time and MS milked Halo and 343i suffered from it. Now they have time and that is exactly what the franchise needed. Halo Infinite will be a big comeback for Halo in general simply because talented devs if given time will deliver a great game.

Halo MCC by 2020 will be the gold standard of how to make a collection.

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Yeah, I can see this. I was never into Halo. I wasn't into shooters back then.

I like it more now. Trying to get thru the MCC from the first game.

But, overall that and Gears aren't really my thing. I play the hell out of State of Decay tho, lol.

 

[Einchy]

Threads from 2008.

 

[Reformed Individual]

Yes because recent Halos have been trash tier. 343 tried to chase after what made other FPS games popular, not improve on what made Halo itself popular. Thus, they lost what actual Halo fans enjoyed, and didn't gain any new players in return, since why would other FPS game players go to Halo when their current FPS already does what they want?

 

[Deleted member 9317]

Yeah, people talk about 'What does Sony need as launch title to combat Halo: Infinite".

Umm... Nothing? Sony doesn't need to counter Halo. They just need to do their own thing. Infinite needs to be a seriously exceptional game for it to put a dent on the market.

I wouldn't be surprised if it's given for free for Scarlett owners at launch. That'll make it a serious contender in the market.

 

[VeePs]

Yes because recent Halos have been trash tier. 343 tried to chase after what made other FPS games popular, not improve on what made Halo itself popular. Thus, they lost what actual Halo fans enjoyed, and didn't gain any new players in return, since why would other FPS game players go to Halo when their current FPS already does what they want?

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What game did Halo 5 chase after?

 

[Derktron]

It declined after or during Halo 4, as I hear it wasn't well-received and it went downhill when Halo 5 came out and the lack of split screen. But as time went on it lost its touch as other big games came out. There are many factors as to why Halo lost its popularity.

 

[RevengeTaken]

Halo belongs to Bungie! Every Halo without Bungie will be a flop both commercially and critically!

 

[truly101]

Halo 4 seemed decent but longtime fans weren't impressed. Halo 5 wasn't a system seller. I hope that Infinite is for the next Xbox. Halo should be important again, they need an important 1st party game.

 

[Reformed Individual]

What game did Halo 5 chase after?

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The bad ones, and until they remove sprint, ADS, and Spartan Abilities, their games will continue to fail.

 

[Chip Chanceworth]

Ive always found it fascinating that Call of Duty 4 was able to dethrone Halo when Halo was arguably at its peak in terms of popularity. And it did just two months after Halo 3 was released. I think the foundation of the fandom was probably pretty weak in order for that to happen so quickly, leaving behind only the extremely hardcore players. It has yet to recover since then. Thats not to mean that the games havent sold well, they did fine, but the player base fell off almost immediately after releases. This has been a common trend with Halo games since 3, regardless of the quality of the games.

I still play Halo 2 almost everyday on MCC, so i guess im part of that weird small fan base. And if i where give my two cents as to what the popularity is going to be for Halo Infinite a year from now, i have a gut feeling that its going to do extremely well given the sort of cultish fervor that has been building up around the franchise over the last couple years. With two console platforms, PC, XCloud, and Game Pass, i would bet you dollars to doughnuts that its going to be the biggest selling Halo game of all time. But will the players stick around after the honeymoon period is the real question. That will hinge on what the game actually is in terms of its structure. If its just a single player story with a multiplayer component then the player base will go tits up quickly.

 

[Einchy]

The 13 old playing Halo in 2019 instead of Fortnite also posts "I was born in the wrong generation, now THIS is music!" under Led Zeppelin videos.

 

[Reformed Individual]

Ive always found it fascinating that Call of Duty 4 was able to dethrone Halo when Halo was arguably at its peak in terms of popularity. And it did just two months after Halo 3 was released. I think the foundation of the fandom was probably pretty weak in order for that to happen so quickly, leaving behind only the extremely hardcore players. It has yet to recover since then. Thats not to mean that the games havent sold well, they did fine, but the player base fell off almost immediately after releases. This has been a common trend with Halo games since 3, regardless of the quality of the games.

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Wait how did CoD4 dethrone Halo 3? H3 still consistently got number 1 on the xbox live most played games for each month.

 

[jem]

Ive always found it fascinating that Call of Duty 4 was able to dethrone Halo when Halo was arguably at its peak in terms of popularity. And it did just two months after Halo 3 was released. I think the foundation of the fandom was probably pretty weak in order for that to happen so quickly, leaving behind only the extremely hardcore players. It has yet to recover since then. Thats not to mean that the games havent sold well, they did fine, but the player base fell off almost immediately after releases. This has been a common trend with Halo games since 3, regardless of the quality of the games.

I still play Halo 2 almost everyday on MCC, so i guess im part of that weird small fan base. And if i where give my two cents as to what the popularity is going to be for Halo Infinite a year from now, i have a gut feeling that its going to do extremely well given the sort of cultish fervor that has been building up around the franchise over the last couple years. With two console platforms, PC, XCloud, and Game Pass, i would bet you dollars to doughnuts that its going to be the biggest selling Halo game of all time. But will the players stick around after the honeymoon period is the real question. That will hinge on what the game actually is in terms of its structure. If its just a single player story with a multiplayer component then the player base will go tits up quickly.

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Halo 3 was the most played game on Xbox Live from 2007 until 2010 when Halo Reach released.

 

[The Last Laugh]

I think the franchise is still popular as ever but I think the shooter side is what is taking the hit. This style of shooter is sadly on the back burner. Quake arena, unreal tourney and whatnot have taken a step back while battle royal and squad based are getting the heat right now. I would love a new arena shooter to break through

 

[Xeontech]

Last decade Halo was on the tip of every child and adult gamers tongue.

Today, my kids and their friends don't even know I'm talking about a game when I bring up Halo.

Their competitors first party games are selling more than 4 and 5 combined. That says somthing.

Infinite can definitely turn things around in a big way if it is as good as we all hope it is. But I don't think Halo will ever be the status it was in its hayday. The last 3 entry's turned off too many fans for a decade and a half.

 

[GTVision]

It has been tough for Halo. Being on a way less popular console compared to the 360 days, changing developer from Bungie to 343, having more competitors in the multiplayer space, etc. I do believe it has still huge potential though.

 

[Xeontech]

Halo has lost some popularity, but Infinite will be the biggest next gen launch title.

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It's crossgen.

So that title will be swiped by TLOU2 most likely.

 

[Detail]

I think it is about to have a resurgence on PC tbh, it will sell a huge amount of copies on Steam imo.

 

[VeePs]

The bad ones, and until they remove sprint, ADS, and Spartan Abilities, their games will continue to fail.

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Huh, MP in Halo 5 was the best since Halo 2 but to each his own I guess. I'm personally glad they said they're going to build on Halo 5 MP.

As for continuing to fail I definitely think the popularity has declined, but it sold 5 million in 3 months, and with cross platform and cross gen I think it'll sell more than Halo 5 did.

 

[Aokiji]

It's been on a decline since COD gained popularity with Modern Warfare

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And then halo 4 happened & accelerated that even further

 

[Completely Anonymous]

Yes. The original Bungie Halo games were all pretty good. However, since Bungie left, 343 has tried to keep the series afloat with varying levels of success. The sales numbers, and the decline in quality sure seem to support this. Halo Infinite doesn't appear to have much in the way of hype at this time, but then again we've only seen CG trailers - no gameplay

 

[Reformed Individual]

Huh, MP in Halo 5 was the best since Halo 2 but to each his own I guess. I'm personally glad they said they're going to build on Halo 5 MP.

As for continuing to fail I definitely think the popularity has declined, but it sold 5 million in 3 months, and with cross platform and cross gen I think it'll sell more than Halo 5 did.

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Sales for a game like Halo don't mean shit if no one plays it after a year. It's currently 34th on the most played games, even behind pure shit like Fallout 76 and the like. That is not good. 343 are unable to create a game that retains players. Of course people are still gonna buy Halo games, they want to see if the game they loved years ago has been made good again, but if people don't actively play after a few months/years, then what's the point.

 

[Cranster]

Kind of funny that alot of people are ignoring the fact that the decline with Halo actually started with Bungie due to Reach. The fact is though that Halo has lost popularity due to multiple reasons, alot of them were also outside of 343i's control.

In regards to sales though other shooters had the benefit of being multiplatform where Halo up until this point remained locked to the Xbox.

 

[Imitation Of Life]

I feel like halo, gears, uncharted and god of war all went through the same popularity cycle. They were on top of the world last gen and slowly lost thier appeal due to repetition.

God of war is the only one that managed to rekindle the interest to the franchise so far, curious to see how rest of those ips are gonna handle it.

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Ucharted 4 won GOTY in 2016 and has sold around 15 million copies to date...

 

[Chip Chanceworth]

Halo 3 was the most played game on Xbox Live from 2007 until 2010 when Halo Reach released.

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Halo 3 wasn't consistently the #1 played game on xbox. It bounced back and forth with Call of Duty even through those years in terms of weekly popularity, and that was just the CoD Xbox 360 crowd. I don't doubt that Halo was being played allot by Halo fans on Xbox, as it was the only place to play it, which may have lead to it being played the most on Xbox 360 through out its life time. Call of Duty 4 was released on more systems, sold more and had a much larger player base across. The discussion at the time was most certainly dominated by CoD4 and its online popularity, leaving Halo behind rather quickly in terms of its cultural impact. And that game was just the start of a much larger story. CoD games released yearly after that just kept getting bigger while Halo got smaller. I still believe that CoD4 was the Halo killer.

 

[Deleted member 19218]

Halo is no longer a must have game because there are so many choices.

1. Back when there was Halo 2 you could be sure everyone with an Xbox had it. Today, you could ask "Hey do you have the latest Halo?" And you might get "Nah, I got the latest COD/Battlefield/loot shooter instead". Customers didn't have many online shooter options back then.

2. Halo 2 lasted for the rest of the generation, it never became outdated once it came out for that generation. It's not like Call of Duty where you might only have Black Ops 2 while one friend has Black Ops 1 and another has modern warfare 3. Everyone had Halo 2, the only Halo to have online multiplayer at the time.

3. In addition to that kids are growing up with Fortnite now and not Halo. There is no nostalgic love for Halo from them.

In short, there was a guarantee at the time that everyone you knew had it and was able to play it. Therefore it maintained an active community throughout but now with so many alternatives, Halo is no longer a must have game.

 

[DarkFlame92]

Imo yes and thats because of the big gap from the last quality release (Halo 4)

 

[VinFTW]

Halo is no longer a must have game because there are so many choices.

1. Back when there was Halo 2 you could be sure everyone with an Xbox had it. Today, you could ask "Hey do you have the latest Halo?" And you might get "Nah, I got the latest COD/Battlefield/loot shooter instead". Customers didn't have many online shooter options back then.

2. Halo 2 lasted for the rest of the generation, it never became outdated once it came out for that generation. It's not like Call of Duty where you might only have Black Ops 2 while one friend has Black Ops 1 and another has modern warfare 3. Everyone had Halo 2, the only Halo to have online multiplayer at the time.

3. In addition to that kids are growing up with Fortnite now and not Halo. There is no nostalgic love for Halo from them.

In short, there was a guarantee at the time that everyone you knew had it and was able to play it. Therefore it maintained an active community throughout but now with so many alternatives, Halo is no longer a must have game.

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in your opinion*

Halo will always be a must have for me, and millions of fans.

Theres simply nothing like it

 

[Deleted member 19218]

in your opinion*

Halo will always be a must have for me, and millions of fans.

Theres simply nothing like it

Click to shrink...

The fact that this thread exists kind of demonstrates that Halo is a has been franchise. I can't say the hype for this new one is comparable to the hype for Halo 3.

 

[Matty H]

Halo has fallen away in popularity since 3.

Halo: CE and Halo 2 were my favourite games of all time when they came out. I even took a week off work when Halo 3 was released because I was excited to finish the fight.

The franchise should have gone into hibernation after that but they churned out frequent sequels rather than taking the time to make each release feel like a technological trailblazer with a story and lore that can make waves in the public consciousness.

The marketing and specifically the podcast had me super excited about Halo 5, the most I had thought about Halo since 3, but then the reviews completely deflated my hype. Apparently the story was misrepresented by the pre release materials and to compound that disappointment was just plain bad, so I never touched it.

I don't know if the people who made that podcast have anything to do Halo: Infinite but I would put them in charge of writing the game. I was hoping for more of a story hook from the E3 demo but it felt a bit safe. Word is that they're aiming for Infinite to be a good entry (or re-entry) point to the franchise, only time will tell if it can recapture the popularity that Halo once had.

 

[Deleted member 1120]

I mean, the market for first person shooters is a lot more competitive now than back then.

 

[VinFTW]

The fact that this thread exists kind of demonstrates that Halo is a has been franchise. I can't say the hype for this new one is comparable to the hype for Halo 3.

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Yes

Era is definitely an accurate representation of the wide gaming sphere

 

[Gatti-man]

Absolutely halo has lost popularity but it's still a mega franchise and could be huge again in the right hands.

 

[Azerth]

It's crossgen.

So that title will be swiped by TLOU2 most likely.

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tlou2 hasnt been announced for next gen and halo will be on pc this time

 

[Deleted member 20284]

The 13 old playing Halo in 2019 instead of Fortnite also posts "I was born in the wrong generation, now THIS is music!" under Led Zeppelin videos.

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Something something everyone else is wrong...

I love that theoretical 13 year old. Bungie launched Destiny with Led Zeppelin. Thor Ragnarok used Led Zeppelin. I think you broke your own point.

Spoiler

I get what you're saying but damn that 13 year old has some bloody good taste.

My son and his friends play MCC and H5 together, far less then they play Sea of Thieves or Fortnite or Apex though.

 

[MAX PAYMENT]

It's crossgen.

So that title will be swiped by TLOU2 most likely.

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Are we sure its cross gen?
It will be a huge title regardless.

 

[Premium]

It's crossgen.

So that title will be swiped by TLOU2 most likely.

Click to shrink...

Nah.

 

[Coolduderedux]

Halo has lost its popularity especially with the gap in release from 5 to Infinite.

But some of you all really need to take off your nostalgia glasses and let Halo 3 go.

 

[Vj27]

It's funny seeing this thread and me using MCC on steam being super hyped as a fact towards halo's resurgence, then the thread above this is the most hyped steam games with MCC being #2 behind cyber punk... but who cares what I think, you can't lump that statistic with "I SeE 13 yEAr OLds nOT caRiNg" like those 13 year olds is the entire gaming Industry lol. Even the halo community was disappointed with what we got from E3. We wanted gameplay, and we got another cgi trailer. Not much to talk about halo really besides MCC and that alone should indicate halos popularity at the moment. A damn 10+ year old pc port is one of the most hyped games of this year, that should tell you SOMETHING.

 

[Dream Machine]

Halo fans are now being played by Amy Poehler in Mean Girls