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Has Halo lost some of its popularity?
- Thread starter SantaC
- Start date
Yes. I just now learned there's a Halo 5 from reading this thread. Could've sworn 4 (or Halo Wars 2) was the last one. That's... not a good sign.
Series peaked at 2, imo. Last time I really seen a ton of hype around a Halo release was 3, though.
Series peaked at 2, imo. Last time I really seen a ton of hype around a Halo release was 3, though.
So many Halo haters in here. The worst Halo games are better than most anything released in the past 5 years.
A bit, but it could regain its popularity if Infinite is a rework/reboot of the series a la God of War.
343 ruined the franchise + SO MANY other FPS and online games took over in popularity through the years, filling up the vacuum that was once occupied by Halo 2 and 3.
Halo is just a shell of what it once was, I don't think it will ever come back tbh. Competition is way too fierce now (Fortnite, COD, etc)
Halo is just a shell of what it once was, I don't think it will ever come back tbh. Competition is way too fierce now (Fortnite, COD, etc)
The franchise could rebound to a degree if they take the necessary steps to distinguish it from both what is popular now and what was popular 15 yeas ago. I think developing the Campaign portion of Halo is absolutely the right way to go, while keeping the multiplayer smaller scaled but refined with a variety of simple game types and maps to enjoy.
Halo stopped being as popular back in 2007 when Modern Warfare released. At that point it stopped being the de facto console FPS experience and the competition only continued to grow from that point on. It also doesn't help that the games that 343 have made haven't been near as good as the Bungie Halo titles. I'm sure player numbers will be good for Infinite though as it will be on Game Pass and PC which opens it up for a whole lot more people to at least give it a try.
Again the narrative that cod killed halo is insane. Reach was the second best selling game of the series.
The answer to that question is a resounding yes, its popularity keeps on waning with each passing year it seems.
I agree that Halo's popularity but this is where I take issue with a lot of posts in this thread. Infinite is probably going to be the most played Halo game of all time due to it spanning multiple generations + PC + Game Pass + xCloud. Especially if they deliver on the promise of a "soft reboot" that taps into the best parts of the franchise...
There's no reason why it can't stage a huge comeback. It won't be the cultural phenomenon it once was (I'd argue very few games reached the level of mid-2000's Halo) but I think it will be a huge game come 2020 and beyond.
I agree that COD had a major effect on Halo. Then Destiny took another chunk. Halo is still awesome though. Just that gamers are split into numerous shooter camps now.
Halo 5 outsold the first Destiny on the Xbox One and until recently also outsold Destiny 2 on the Xbox One.
You can deny it all you want but COD4's release was the start of the decline regardless of what Halo Reach did. Halo didn't have much competition in the console space prior to that. Did it "kill Halo?" No as Halo isn't dead today. But it did start to cut into that audience and every other console FPS that came after that only continued it.
Disagree. Call of Duty has become the de facto mainstream shooter.
Halo 3 was the most played game on Xbox Live from 2007 until 2010. Your statement was that Halo lost popularity when COD4 was released which is untrue.
Keyword, "has"! That did not become the case until 2011. Even then Halo imo has always been a better experience, let alone the yearly release of
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The most significant influence cod had over halo was that it changed the way the game played. Rather than staying in it's own lane and being a different type of shooter, halo tried to take players from cod while retaining it's own fanbase and pleasing neither population in a capacity that recaptured the popularity of either franchise.
That means little as to why halo itself lost its popularity, even compared to just it self
"Halo has declined/is dead" feels more and more like a mantra some folks need to repeat despite not following what's been happening in the community and 343i. I mean for now, we can look at 5's reception and 343i's struggles with getting the tone and design of Halo right, as well as the extremely high profile catastrophe of MCC's launch. All of that paired with heavy competition in the shooter space and franchise fatigue makes the narrative of Halo not being what it once was pretty hard to disagree with.
But with all of that said, Halo as a series has earned a place among the elite franchises in gaming. While it might not have the same pull as it did in 2007 at this moment in time, a new entry with that innovates as well as captures the spirit of what made the original trilogy such a massive success could absolutely equal or even exceed it's past popularity. Look at what BOTW did for the Zelda franchise for instance.
But with all of that said, Halo as a series has earned a place among the elite franchises in gaming. While it might not have the same pull as it did in 2007 at this moment in time, a new entry with that innovates as well as captures the spirit of what made the original trilogy such a massive success could absolutely equal or even exceed it's past popularity. Look at what BOTW did for the Zelda franchise for instance.
Halo is an exclusive title, thus the only way we can compare the series is on the Xbox. In that case it was the most popular title for 3 years straight. That's despite a brand new CoD releasing each of those years.
Halo 3 was the most played game on Xbox live for 2007, 2008 and 2009.
The only time Halo dropped behind was with the release of Halo Reach in 2010. So no, CoD 4 was not a Halo killer.
It's been downhill sales-wise ever since 3, and while I loved Reach it didn't have the same global impact.
Then 343, instead of focusing on what made Halo multiplayer fun, tried to ape what made CoD successful, turning into a second-rate clone of the real thing. It hasn't recovered since.
Then 343, instead of focusing on what made Halo multiplayer fun, tried to ape what made CoD successful, turning into a second-rate clone of the real thing. It hasn't recovered since.
It's tough to maintain the charm with a cipher like Master Chief.
Mario or Nathan Drake are much more appealing.
Additionally, Halo has been having some difficulties in surprising people in terms of gameplay moments. Hopefully Infinite will introduce some freshness.
Mario or Nathan Drake are much more appealing.
Additionally, Halo has been having some difficulties in surprising people in terms of gameplay moments. Hopefully Infinite will introduce some freshness.
Yes, Halo was peak xbox 360 from there it has never found a clear identity and lost way too much time following trends instead of focusing on its core. However for an Older generation of gamers Halo is pure golden nostalgia so I suppose if Halo infinite is truly good it can make a big comeback.
MS talked about how for years there will be no Scarlett exclusive-games. Basically everything will be cross-gen with Xbone and Xbox One X for a few years after release.
I don't have an Xbox this generation but I will probably pick up a used Xbox One X when the next generation starts so that I can play the Master Chief Collection.
No doubt at all about that my friend.
Fans would want the best version of it when it comes to consoles, which would be on Scarlett.
Basically this. I also hand it up Bungie with how they curated the games, media and discussions surrounding. Man, even when Reach was coming out, people were jazzed. Bungie also did so so much with ODST, it's crazy. Sure, it was short and story did play like an expansion, but the music and noir tone absolutely was hella awesome! They tried something kind of odd the wall and even if it wasn't wasn't what everyone was expecting, it was received pretty well. Also was a test bed for their wave-based multiplayer mode.
Which still baffles me, I got an X but might get a Scarlet depending on Halo comparisons. Graphical fidelity can be scaled I guess, but I am wondering what they are gonna do with enemy counts and setpieces.
Dude Halo isn't as popular as it used to be, let it go. 3 was the high point in terms of hype, marketing, and mindshare. Nobody would claim Halo is more popular than CoD unless they've been living under a rock since 2009.
I don't think Halo will reach the popularity and mindshare from when 3 released, but with Infinite being on Game Pass, and on PC day 1, I think it can come somewhat close
Well, it's not as deeply engrained in the zeitgeist as it was when Halo 2 and 3 released, but this also coincides with gaming as a whole having become a larger market over the last decade. So while it's not as popular in relative terms just as Mario isn't as big a share of the gaming industry as it was when SMB3 released, it may still sell competitively to the rest of the series in objective numbers.
Well ya, Halo was extremely popular back in the day and in a way was the first extremely popular pvp fps (correct me if I'm wrong). It's expected that it would have suffered some decline by now, a lot of games have copied the formula, bungies now longer the dev studio, and we've seen nearly 2 decades worth of Halo games. Ppl are just growing tired of it, Infinite can bring some of that spark back, but it'll never be what it once was in terms of popularity.
It's hard to say if it actually has. I feel like the series has progressively abandoned what the original fans enjoyed about it. It's kinda strange how after Halo 3 it took such a sharp downturn.
At the same time tho I feel like I personally care less and less about video games in general so that could be the reason I have zero excitement for the next installment.
Although now that I'm thinking about it if they did a hard reboot I'd be fucking hyped.
At the same time tho I feel like I personally care less and less about video games in general so that could be the reason I have zero excitement for the next installment.
Although now that I'm thinking about it if they did a hard reboot I'd be fucking hyped.
Yes we know. Halo 3 was played allot on Xbox 360. But that same site shows that over that 07-09 year period that CoD4, WaW, and MW2 out ranking Halo 3 over the course of those years by swapping positions every now and then as the most played game on 360, with Halo 3 averaging out on top over that three year period. Which is even more impressive considering that this is only half the story in choosing to ignore that the PS3 existed and how large its Call of Duty audience is. Starting with CoD4 the franchise dominated the online shooter space during that generation. After CoD4 people realized that you didn't need to own a 360 to be part of the biggest online game, and it just snowballed from there and got bigger and bigger. Meanwhile Halo sales continued to fall after Halo 3 and the player retention got pretty weak. CoD didn't execute when Halo was on the downfall and the player base was dwindling. It did when Halo was technically at its strongest. It all started with CoD4.
Lmao this myth the COD4 killed it is funny considering Halo 3 was only really ousted as number one when MW2 came out a full two years after it released. Even then it only dropped down to second.