E3 has been over for more than a month and the dust of all big reveals is finally settling, this marks the perfect time to think ahead of what the near future holds for us, the gamers. With the reveal of the next-generation Xbox, codenamed Project Scarlett, and the confirmation that the new Halo Infinite will be a launch game, Xbox fans all over the world got excited. Having Halo as a launch game is amazing but will it be enough?
The Halo hype
First things first, let’s discuss the Halo hype. Xbox fans are in love with the franchise and the reason why isn’t that hard to find out. Right from the start, Halo innovated the first-person shooter and really made one of the first truly successful console multiplayer games. Halo: Combat Evolved was unseen for its time and it resulted in an instant success of the original Xbox. Microsoft launched its original Xbox together with Halo: Combat Evolved which immediately put them on the map. This new American console was here to stay and wasn’t afraid to do its own thing next to the two Japanese giants. Halo formed the image of Xbox and to this day, it’s still one of Xbox’s most important franchises. Surely, the franchise went to some struggles when 343 Studios took over from Bungie but even the newest Halo entries managed to grasp the attention of million fans. Revealing Halo Infinite as a Project Scarlett launch games was an extremely smart move.
Xbox never repeated their original strategy where Halo was amongst the launch games for a new console. Both Xbox 360 and Xbox One launched without the Master Chief. Confirming a launch for their new system proves that they are really aiming for the stars with this release. The pressure of both Nintendo and PlayStation is real so it really makes a lot of sense that Xbox brings in the big guns right from the start, but will it be enough? Of course, it won’t be. The system needs more than just the Master Chief and I’m really hoping Microsoft can pull it off, I’m pretty sure they have a couple of surprises yet to be revealed.
Variation in the launch line-up
If we take a look at the past, it’s pretty clear that Microsoft is always aiming for variation in their launch line-up. Third-party hits like Watch Dogs or Assassin’s Creed are often part of a launch or even more obscure games like Shrek manage to make it as a launch game. It’s clear that Microsoft knows what they are doing when they launch a new console and although the clearly understand the importance of the Halo franchise, I’m convinced they also understand that Halo Infinite can’t carry Project Scarlett on its own. So what’s the solution here? Well, games, lots of them.
At this point, it’s a bit hard to guess which games might launch next to Halo but judging on the variation we might see a new Forza or Fable game appearing next to the Master Chief on day one. That is, if you only take first-party games into consideration. As said before, Microsoft loves to include as many games as possible to literally be able to offer something for everybody on launch. Just by looking at the crazy amount of studios Microsoft recently acquired, it’s safe to say that the Project Scarlett launch line-up might become the biggest we’ve ever seen for the Xbox brand. Think about a new DoubleFine, Ninja Theory or Obsidian game on launch, that would be incredible!
Conclusion:
I think it’s pretty clear that Halo: Infinite alone isn’t good enough to justify getting Project Scarlett at launch and I’m pretty sure Microsoft is aware of this too. Just by looking at the crazy amount of studios that will develop games exclusively for the Microsoft platforms in the future, it’s safe to say that the new Xbox might receive the biggest and most varied line-up to date. Is Halo enough? Not even by a long shot but I’m sure Master Chief won’t be alone to support the launch next year.
