Defining Duke: An Xbox Podcast#299 | The Death Of Halo Studios
Round 2 of the Xbox Reset has arrived thanks to none of other than the Green Reaper. Joining us is Gene Park to discuss the fallout of these events. Halo is now officially run by Activision as Xbox finally chopped down 343 aka Halo Studios. It has been a long time coming as 343 managed the franchise for 15 years. Their tenure brought us Halo Anniversary Edition, Halo 4, Halo 5 Guardians, Halo Infinite, Halo Wars 2, and Halo Campaign Evolved. Almost all of these were disasters in their own way and as Asha Sharma's team cleans house, this felt inevitable in the wake of poor sales for the latest Halo remake. So, how can Activision rebuild the franchise? What direction do they take things in? Is it time to rebuild from scratch and ignore literally anything done before? Are sprint, ADS, and mantling returning features? How long will all of this take? It is a seismic undertaking and one thing is clear: another 343 led Halo game that sucks would sting, but another new beginning that results in disaster would drive us all to the point of insanity. Xbox must nail this, but that goes for a number of their IP they're now looking to nurture. Obsidian has joined forces with Bethesda and it's no doubt that these two will be at the hip for a very long time as Fallout continues to peak in popularity. What is Obsidian's creative future? Are they forever attached to Fallout or are more experiments on the way? Plus, will InXile join the fold at Bethesda eventually as the Xbox Game Studios family has become incredibly lean. It's our largest episode ever, so do get comfortable, settle into the conversation, and enjoy! Please keep in mind that our timestamps are approximate, and will often be slightly off due to dynamic ad placement. 0:00:00 - Intro 0:07:02 - Addressing the nuclear Brad strike 0:14:02 - Health Is Wealth 0:17:02 - Is Trails 2 Remake worth it if you already played the original? 0:19:59 - The next chapter for Bungie 0:48:49 - Gene Park’s interview with Hideo Kojima 1:27:31 - Xbox’s platinum equivalent is here 1:37:46 - Why Fable was given a decade 1:47:36 - Undead Labs has gone independent 1:52:44 - Starcraft won’t be Xbox exclusive 1:58:55 - Blood Of Dawnwalker cost just $40 million 2:12:44 - Final Fantasy 7’s difficulty controversy 2:37:01 - Valor Mortis makes admirable price move 2:44:11 - What We’re Playing 3:20:16 - Round 2 of the Xbox Reset commences Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
