Has Halo lost some of its popularity?

[Handsome James]

Check back after MCC launches on Steam and PC GamePass.

Halo popularity and interest as of June 2019 is arguably higher than it was post Halo 5 launch 3 years ago. Seems like MS is trying to reach a whole new audience that would've never played on Xbox with their recent PC to push. Will only help build hype going into the Scarlett launch

 

[LQX]

That is because MS has been half-assing the reveal and hardly showing anything worthwhile or noteworthy. They might as just show off the damn logo and call it a day.

 

[Maxim726x]

Halo literally changed the way we play console shooters... Besides that, it was a damn fine game to boot.

Short of some Doom (PS4/XBone Doom) rebirth, no Halo game will ever be as impactful.

 

[jviggy43]

The Halo Infinite trailer/cinematic just wasn't very good imo. It was 6 minutes, every scene felt rushed, and yet it didn't actually feel like anything of note happened. It just wasn't directed to be an E3 trailer and it shows.

Obviously it's lost some popularity as well, but I don't think that trailer did the game any favors.

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One of the worst trailers Ive ever seen at an E3. It was the antithesis of hype.

 

[TheMan]

Gaming trends have passed halo by. Shit was groundbreaking (for consoles) 20 years ago but the kiddies like other stuff now and they have little nostalgia for master chief. Halo infinite reaaaaally needs to bring something fresh to the table.

 

[Deleted member 29660]

Some? How about a majority. It's just another title now.

 

[TheLoCoRaven]

Depending on how you look at it, you could contribute it to Xbox losing popularity this gen compared to last gen. I don't know the install base ratios to know if the ratio changed from one gen to the next, but I'd argue it's lost some popularity because the game got more and more MP focused when a lot of the early Halo players loved the story.

 

[Japanmanx3]

Some? Darn near all of it. 4 and 5 left it anemic.

 

[Cooking]

The 343 games have been solid but not on Bungies level. I think if the new game is really good, combined with the more nostalgic take on the series it seems to be going for + Microsoft's current momentum, it could be huge again. We will have a better idea after the series launches on PC I think. I don't think we will ever see anything on Halo 3s level again in the series though. The industry has just changed too much since then.

 

[impact]

Halo literally changed the way we play console shooters... Besides that, it was a damn fine game to boot.

Short of some Doom (PS4/XBone Doom) rebirth, no Halo game will ever be as impactful.

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Yea but you're just living in the past with these kind of statements.

Right now Halo is just a series. It's not a mammoth like it once was. People aren't buying hardware to play Halo like they were on OG Xbox.

 

[MattEnth]

My 2 cents:

• Halo 5's story was a trainwreck and huge step down for the series.
  
  
• Multiplayer shooters without skill based matchmaking are mostly doomed. No one enjoys being fodder for ultra high skill players. Halo gameplay magnifies skill disparities more than typical games.

 

[Karthane]

I mean, there was nothing to get hyped about. A slowly paced cinematic trailer that explains nothing just isn't enough

 

[Ebullientprism]

"some" is putting it rather kindly TBH.

I mean, there was nothing to get hyped about. A slowly paced cinematic trailer that explains nothing just isn't enough

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IIRC the first Halo 3/e3 trailer was just an empty road with a 3 second shot of the Chief at the end and it melted the internet.

 

[Marcus Brutalius]

My 2 cents:

• Halo 5's story was a trainwreck and huge step down for the series.
  
  
• Multiplayer shooters without skill based matchmaking are mostly doomed. No one enjoys being fodder for ultra high skill players. Halo gameplay magnifies skill disparities more than typical games.

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Just curious, if they weren't able to fix that, how is crossplay with PC supposed to work if that is a thing?

 

[papertowel]

Halo should've taken a big break after Reach. Something like 4-5 years. Halo 4 was announced just 9 months after Reach came out if I recall. Way too soon.

Though the biggest problem is the 343 games haven't been good.

 

[KORNdog]

i think most of MS pillar franchises have (except for the horizon spin-off of forza) halo and gears especially. it's why MS really need a new big impact exclusive moving forward. i actually think 343 and coalition have it in them to make such a game, but i'm not sure if MS will ever let them branch out to make it? they all need a god of war level reboot imo or be put to rest for a long while.

 

[Dinobot]

Yeah I think they are based on anecdotal evidence, sales numbers and twich/youtube numbers. It seemed to have peaked at Reach and then saw significant drop off with Halo 4 and 5. I think Infinite is 1 game to late for the "soft reboot" but hopefully Scarlett starts off with a bang the way the OG Xbox did with Halo leading the way.

 

[Chumunga64]

This video sums it up to me

 

[RF Switch]

Halo is going to have to prove itself with an amazing game to really get the attention back. The way infinite seems to be heading I think this may be the biggest Halo ever.

 

[Ushojax]

Of course it has. It used to be the biggest console FPS title. I played all the Bungie games in split-screen with my dad, we started 4 but never finished it and I stopped caring. Not every franchise can last forever, Halo was on a downward slope after the first game but it did well to get as far as it did with the change in developer.

 

[oliverandm]

Very much so. Halo peaked 12 years ago. Bungie leaving the IP didn't help. This soft reboot of the series is probably a good idea, but I think Halo was a product of its time, in ways that are more obvious now than maybe 6-7 years ago, where Microsoft was still willing to ride on the aftermath of its massive success on Xbox 360

 

[jviggy43]

IIRC the first Halo 3/e3 trailer was just an empty road with a 3 second shot of the Chief at the end and it melted the internet.

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The problem being is this isnt 1998 anymore.

EDIT oh halo 3 der me

 

[DiceHands]

If Halo infinite is just another linear Halo game that doesnt do anything new, I am a hard out. They need to rethink what Halo can be and take it beyond

 

[MJForum Poster]

It was colossal up until and including Halo 3, then Modern Warfare debuted a month later and stole all of its multiplayer thunder. Since then, it's been mostly CoD until the Battle Royale craze, with some exceptions for Destiny, which combined just enough of the Halo-esque gameplay with typical RPG mechanics.

It also doesn't help that the story has gone off the rails, with books being required reading to make heads or tails of some of the campaign plot points. Infinite needs a hook beyond "its a new Halo in glorious 4K and a new engine" to grow its audience.

 

[Khrol]

Halo lost popularity when COD got big but it was still respectable. Ever since 343i took over it's almost completely lost it's luster with the average joe.

 

[Marcus Brutalius]

Halo should've taken a big break after Reach. Something like 4-5 years. Though the biggest problem is the 343 games haven't been good.

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343 gets a little too much shit imo. Yes, Halo 4 was a big letdown for me as well and I stopped bothering with the franchise after that. But maybe I simply suffered from franchise fatigue. There's only so much you can do in a genre or with a certain set-up -
that's also the reason why Star Wars is not what it used to be.
I binge played Halo on the 360 and in hindsight it was already in decline starting with 2, Halo 3 and Reach weren't particullary stellar FPS single-player games. Co-op and multiplayer in combination with good campaigns blew this franchise up .

 

[Akai]

Good lord...people need to follow the conversation instead of jumping in with quick takes. I was replying to someone who said it will be as big as it's ever been because gamepass/PC, never said no one on Pc wants it. I disagreed with that nothing more. It is simply nor near as big as it used to be, halo has been on PC before and never set the world on fire. Pc is a different market.

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I have followed your conversation and my post is not a quick take. You tried to dismiss 2 posts, by saying that a) people only on forums like this are excited and b) Steam Wishlist not meaning anything. Both are incorrect and people have listed reasons as to why Halo 2 (for example) didn't do good numbers. Literally nobody liked GFWL back in the day and it hurt the game big time. Halo: MCC is coming to Steam, which is the biggest PC platform and it's, again, maintining it's #1 spot on the Steam Wishlist. Dismissing that read like a bad joke to me, especially when you look at the other titles in that list.

Also, I don't think anyone is denying that Halo lost its popularity. People are only saying that things can change.

Just curious, if they weren't able to fix that, how is crossplay with PC supposed to work if that is a thing?

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Not sure what the poster means? Both, Halo: MCC and Halo 5 have ranked and unranked modes. Halo 5's works a little better, because it's using a pretty solid Matchmaking Rating (MMR) system and I'm pretty sure that they added TrueSkill v2.0 recently.

While Crossplay isn't confirmed for MCC or Infinite, they could match up people by input device. They could also just let the MMR system do it's job, because good players will automatically be higher ranked, so in theory the average person wouldn't encounter them.

 

[Horns]

Ever since the series landed with 343 my interests in it have gone down. Bungie was better at getting me hyped for Halo games. I think a big factor is I don't play a lot of online games now.

 

[TitlePending]

The console FPS space is so saturated right now, even Halo has a hard time standing out.

 

[thevid]

Yeah I think they are based on anecdotal evidence, sales numbers and twich/youtube numbers. It seemed to have peaked at Reach and then saw significant drop off with Halo 4 and 5. I think Infinite is 1 game to late for the "soft reboot" but hopefully Scarlett starts off with a bang the way the OG Xbox did with Halo leading the way.

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Halo peaked with 3 and "finish the fight." It lost a lot of popularity after that. Singleplayer-wise, the original trilogy story was over. Multiplayer-wise, there was more competition, specifically COD.

 

[Radec]

As long as those top battle royale games are still IN, Halo will not be back like before

 

[RivalGT]

I only liked the Bungie Halo games. I'm not interested in the newer ones, but the new games being on PC, I'm willing to give the games a chance. I'm not sure if they are less popular today, then in years past. But the hype for Halo 2 and 3 was real, something you had to be there to understand. Even with Xbox not being that popular, halo 2 and 3 were still a very big deal.

 

[Thera]

We didn't saw anything. Last 2 games was a mixed bags, so I think it was a little bit cocky to show this so lifeless CGI.

 

[Kas']

Member the Halo 2 E3 demo? Good times, good times.

 

[Moebius]

The last game lacked proper big team battle maps. They decided to focus on the Call of Duty esports crowd and it backfired. To me, Halo was always the most fun when it was played in big team battle with 15 other players on maps that were custom designed to be btb maps. In the last game, the only btb maps (at least when I played) were forged maps. it was super lame.

I did kind of enjoy their new mode but didn't like the one use consumables. One use consumables are never fun.

 

[Scrub Jay]

Hasn't been the biggest name in FPS since MW1 and that was a dozen years ago.

 

[Lothars]

Yes without a doubt, The games have gotten worst since 343 has taken over and Halo 5 really ruined Halo not only for me but my friends who I played Halo with.

 

[Expy]

Yes, because its popularity was correlated to Xbox console sales.

It should get better now that it is no longer bound to Xbox hardware.

 

[Shopolic]

Halo Infinite trailer (cutscene) was so bad. It was something that even walking simulators shouldn't show to their audience, let alone Halo.
People expected gameplay or at least a trailer with some great scenes after 3,4 years, but... It was the ultimate anti hype in my opinion.

 

[Deleted member 4093]

Yup, if Infinite doesn't reinvigorate the franchise then its future is questionable as far as popularity goes.

 

[Yearsoflurking]

I think halo infinite will have 12-15mm players first month

 

[The_Land]

That really doesn;t mean anything...

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This seems to be really bothering you

Halo Infinite is going to be massive.

 

[Jaded Alyx]

Halo is at the top of the pile.

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What pile?

 

[Shoreu]

Yes, but a good launch and the inclusion of PC could help it surge back up in popularity.

 

[Ryan.]

Yes and anyone who disagrees is fooling themselves. It doesn't help that Bungie and then 343 decided to chase trends instead of being innovative like they were with CE-3. Those decisions put a bad taste in a lot of fans' mouths and didn't land with new players.

Throw in the awful launch of MCC and the lack of content at launch, marketing that didn't match the final game, and questionable gameplay decisions for Halo 5, of course interest continues to go down.

Sure, people are exited for MCC on PC but I'm more curious on player retention than units sold.

 

[Fulminator]

yeah it's been downhill since 3/Reach I think

hopefully Infinite is great and breathes some life into the franchise again

 

[MrPoppins]

Yes. But more so that trailer they showed was boring and bland. Had they showed some fun looking gameplay maybe you would see some hype.

 

[Ryan.]

They decided to focus on the Call of Duty esports crowd and it backfired.

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I disagree with this, especially when competitive Halo for esports has been a thing since the late CE/early H2 days with MLG. The only thing that backfired was the community reactions with the stretch of poor support they gave Halo 5 and the HCS:

https://compete.kotaku.com/fans-are-ripping-the-halo-world-championship-for-its-sh-1793643606

But you also have to keep players interested and keep things fresh which is another thing they failed at towards the end of Halo 5's HCS life cycle. It was never about chasing the Call of Duty crowd.

 

[Dennis8K]

100% certainty.

It is nowhere what it was.

Which is a great shame. Still the premier console shooter series in my heart.

 

[Marcus Brutalius]

Yes, because its popularity was correlated to Xbox console sales.

It should get better now that it is no longer bound to Xbox hardware.

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Not true, Halo was at it's peak with Halo 2 + 3. OG Xbox only sold 25m units and by the time Halo 3 released 360 wasn't far from that either.