Up until now, the Halo series had been on a semi-regular release schedule with each title in the main series launching within three years of each other, and sometimes faster. But it’s been almost four years already since the release of Halo 5: Guardians in 2015, meaning fans have had to wait longer than ever for Halo Infinite. Why is it taking so long for the game to come out?

Halo transmedia boss Kiki Wolfkill explained to GI.biz that one of the reasons is because the team at 343 Industries has spent a lot of time working on “retooling” the franchise’s infrastructure. That probably is a reference to the brand-new Slipspace engine that Microsoft showed off at E3 2018.

“Part of why there’s been that span of time between Halo 5 and Infinite is the retooling of the infrastructure to give us the flexibility to do whatever we wanted with that game,” she said.

In addition, Halo Infinite marks the “next generation of Halo,” Wolfkill said. As such, and because the game is a “spiritual reboot,” Wolfkill said the team is taking extra time to make sure Infinite is a game that newcomers can also play and enjoy.

“But it’s also about setting off the next generation of Halo,” she said. “We want people to be able to come into Halo Infinite who may not have played any other Halo game before.”

Part of Wolfkill’s job as the leader of the Halo transmedia team is to find ways to expand Halo’s profile and reach. There is a new Halo TV show coming, and this, as well as the other Halo transmedia efforts, might help draw in new players for Infinite.

“Part of what my role is and my goal with the transmedia pieces is, how do we start to engage new audiences and bring people into the universe so that when Infinite comes out, maybe people who haven’t played before are interested in playing,” she said.

The Halo TV show, which is being produced by GameSpot sister company Showtime, is being compared to Game of Thrones in terms of its scope and scale.

Halo Infinite will presumably be shown off during the Xbox E3 2019 briefing coming up soon. Microsoft is also expected to announce a next-generation console (or two) during the show.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/why-halo-infinite-is-taking-so-long-to-come-out/1100-6467383/

Just like last year, Batman developer Rocksteady Games is skipping E3 2019. Game director and co-founder Sefton Hill wrote on Twitter that the studio “won’t be showing at E3 this year.”

“We’ll be watching as fans but remaining in London, hard at work on our next big project,” he said.

It’s become tradition for Hill to release these kind of statements tempering fans’ excitement and expectations for Rocksteady’s new game.

In December 2018, Hill confirmed there would be no reveal at The Game Awards, while months prior he responded to fan feedback over Rocksteady’s E3 2018 no-show.

Rocksteady is clearly still not ready to show off its new game. There are a number of rumours floating around about it what be, but nothing is confirmed at this stage. Rocksteady created the Batman Arkham series, the latest instalment of which, Arkham Knight, was released in 2015.

Batman: Arkham Origins developer WB Games Montreal, meanwhile, is also working on a new game, but it too is shrouded in mystery.

WB Games Montreal and Rocksteady share a parent company in Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, which is one of the companies attending E3 2019 this month. That being said, nothing yet has suggested any new Batman games will be revealed at the show.

Rocksteady’s new game isn’t the only title skipping E3. The Last of Us 2 and The Elder Scrolls 6 are among the other titles that are also not going to be at the show.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/batman-arkham-dev-skipping-e3-2019/1100-6467376/

A Halo TV show is on the way with Orange is the New Black actor Pablo Schreiber as Master Chief, and Microsoft has bold ambitions for it. 343 Industries transmedia boss Kiki Wolfkill said recently that the Halo show is aiming to be similar to Game of Thrones in some ways.

“It’s hard to find an analog. We talk about Game of Thrones a lot in terms of scope and scale and complexity of relationships,” she said in the latest episode of The AIAS Game Maker’s Notebook podcast with Insomniac Games CEO Ted Price.

Wolfkill pointed out that, like Game of Thrones, the Halo series is steeped in politics.

“A lot of the background of Halo is this sort of political drama. It’s something that [is touched on] really lightly in the games and you see more of in some of the other mediums,” she said. “Some of that [Game of Thrones-style] complexity is interesting.”

Unlike Game of Thrones, however, the Halo TV show will not feature incest. “No incest planned at all for this show, I’ll say that. If you’re looking for that, you won’t find it here,” Wolfkill said.

Wolfkill went on to say that she was personally impressed with the first seasons of Game of Thrones that followed the narrative of the books closely. When there was a shift from the writing in George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series, this change felt deserved and you can understand why changes were made, Wolfkill said.

This is something 343 aspires to with the Halo show.

Wolfkill also spoke about how she gets bothered when people say it’s impossible to make a video game translate to a good TV show or movie. Just because it hasn’t been done before, or rarely, that doesn’t mean it cannot be done, she said.

“It’s not because you can’t, it’s because it’s a really hard challenge, and everyone is still trying to figure it out,” she said. “There isn’t something inherent in the format of video games that makes it impossible to adapt; it’s just a hard challenge. Literally day to day we are making decisions on what can change, what shouldn’t change, what we can we bend.”

Another hugely important part of making the Halo TV show shine is 343 humbling itself and recognizing that the team at Showtime knows more about TV than 343 does.

“We are putting a lot of our trust in our TV partners. You have to be humble and recognize the expertise you’re bringing is different from the expertise that they have,” she said. “And you have to be able to take that leap of faith and trust that the things they want and are lobbying for and need are the right things. That’s probably the hardest part; that leap of faith.”

343 has been working with Showtime for 5 years already. It hasn’t been all fun. The experience has “really been a struggle at times,” Wolfkill said, referring to 343 and Showtime coming to terms on contracts, as well as key talent dropping out.

When the Halo TV show is finally released, no matter how it’s received, Wolfkill said she and her team will be proud about going about it in the right way. She also believes no matter what the Halo TV show will have moved the medium forward in some way.

For his part, Price chimed in to say part of the reason many video game movies and TV shows have been mediocre or worse is because people from gaming assume they know how to make a good TV show or movie.

The entire podcast is incredibly fascinating, and you should listen to it here.

The Halo TV show is now being directed by Otto Bathurst, who directed the shocking Black Mirror series premiere.

The show is scheduled to begin production later in 2019, and Showtime has ordered 10 hour-long episodes of Halo for its first season.

As for the Halo series, Halo Infinite is reportedly set for a big showing at E3 2019 this month. Additionally, Halo: Reach and the entire Master Chief Collection is coming to PC.

Showtime and GameSpot are subsidiaries of CBS Corp.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/halo-tv-show-wants-to-be-like-game-of-thrones-but-/1100-6467338/

Next-generation consoles from Sony and Microsoft are on the way, and Bethesda boss Todd Howard has apparently seen them. That’s no surprise given both of Bethesda’s big upcoming games, Starfield and The Elder Scrolls VI, are expected to launch on the new consoles. Howard has now offered some high-level thoughts on what to expect.

Speaking to IGN, Howard said, “They’re all … [pause] … How to not break NDAs? They are doing the right things.”

Throughout the entire interview, Howard spoke slowly and carefully as he seemed to run through his head what is public knowledge about the consoles and what hasn’t been revealed yet.

Whatever the case, Howard said he is “absolutely” confident about the direction the new consoles from Sony and Microsoft are headed.

“One of the big benefits of my position is I get to see stuff really early. I was one of the first people ever to see the Switch; that was one of the best hardware demos I have ever seen,” Howard said. “The things [Sony and Microsoft are] doing are, in my mind–no one is screwing up at the starting line which some people have done before.”

Pressed for more details, Howard mentioned the vastly improved loading times on the PlayStation 5 that system architect Mark Cenry previously revealed (see the faster load times here). Overall, Howard said both Sony and Microsoft are “focused on the right things.” Whatever those things are, they are suited to the kinds of games that Bethesda is making.

“Everybody is focused on the right things, and in particular, it helps the kind of games that we make tremendously,” he said. “Everybody has learned their lessons in some good ways and some hard ways. And they are very very thoughtful about their audience and the developers. My view of it is it’s going to be awesome across the board. Not just the systems but the business models.”

In regards to business models, Howard said the video game industry is finally growing and evolving and adapting to provide consumers with a variety of choices.

“Gaming is finally reaching the point that linear entertainment is,” Howard said. “Movies, television, all that, where you’re going to have games that are big tentpoles that people can buy for $60. That’s kind of like going to the theater. You’re going to have games you can play on a subscription service, you’re going to have ones you can download on your phone, you’re going to have ones you can play and they’re maybe ad-supported. I think that’s really, really healthy for the industry; obviously the players who want to consume it, but [also] the developers who say ‘I just want to make an adventure game for this budget.’ There’s an audience for that. My worry before was hey, will all of that go away?”

Howard further backed up his point by mentioning that traditional linear TV was generally overrun with lousy reality TV shows before streaming networks like Netflix and others came along and demonstrated that there could be a much bigger diversity in terms of the breadth and depth of content. Basically, something for everyone exists today in TVs and movies, and the same is now, finally, happening for games, Howard said.

Starfield and The Elder Scrolls VI are not coming to E3 2019, but Bethesda still has a press conference scheduled for less than a week from now on June 9 where it will talk about other things.

As mentioned, Sony has already started talking about the PlayStation 5, while Microsoft is expected to formally announce one or two next-generation Xbox consoles during its own E3 2019 briefing.

In other news, Howard recently discussed how Bethesda always thought Fallout 76 would have a tough launch and receive lower review scores.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/elder-scrolls-fallout-boss-todd-howard-talks-ps5-a/1100-6467333/