Last week, Halo fans were stunned by the surprise announcement of Halo: Fireteam Raven, a new game from series’ developer 343 Industries in collaboration with Play Mechanix and Raw Thrills. That game is an on-rails shooter arcade game that sees players fight alongside Master Chief in order to prevent a superweapon from getting into the wrong hands. While the new gameplay sounded like fun, some fans were concerned it would affect the progression of the main Halo series.
Halo fans needn’t be worried, though, as the developer has now confirmed that development of Halo 6 will be unaffected by the release of Halo: Fireteam Raven. In a series of tweets, Halo community manager Brian Jarrard addressed fans’ concerns, saying that Fireteam Raven “has zero impact on the 343 development team which has already been working on the next console game.” Jarrard likened it to other Halo-related spin-offs, noting that the Halo books and toys aren’t being created “instead of” the next Halo game.
Jarrard’s comments will be a huge relief to fans of the series. Although it was tipped as one of the biggest games of the generation, the last main series entry, Halo 5: Guardians, received mixed reviews. Specifically, the campaign was criticized by some who said that it didn’t reach its full potential. Halo 6 would offer 343 Industries a chance to get the series back on track and fans wouldn’t like to think that the developer could possibly sacrifice the game’s quality by making half the team work on an arcade spin-off.
With 343 Industries forging well ahead with development on the game, fans will also be hoping that Halo 6 is going to be announced sooner rather than later. Fans have been speculating about the game’s content for several months, including rumors that the game will feature virtual reality and will be in peak graphical performance at 4K and 60FPS. An announcement would give the developer a chance to address this speculation.
Moreover, Microsoft has been criticized heavily for a lack of Xbox One exclusives. Revealing Halo 6, a new release in one of the biggest game franchises around, would help to temporarily stem those concerns at least. It’s unclear whether the game has been worked on enough that it could be revealed at E3 2018, for example, but fans will be excited to see the game whenever 343 formally lists the lid.
