It looks like the era of exclusives is slowly coming to an end. This is evident from the fact that Sony has started making their trophy franchises, such as God of War and Horizon, available on Steam. Besides this, they are continuously planning more releases for PC. This is a massive move from Sony and no doubt most of the gaming community lauds this decision. Microsoft too announced some Xbox games for the PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch, but fans cannot help but ask, What about Halo?
Times have changed; years ago, people used to get a specific kind of game on a specific platform. A shooter like Halo came from Xbox, while a game like God of War never left Sony PlayStation’s side. They even tried making their own versions of these games but failed. Now, in this changed environment, would Microsoft bring Halo to PlayStation?
After Sea of Thieves and Hi-Fi Rush, is Microsoft planning Halo for the PS5?
In the era of Xbox One, Sony’s PlayStation 4 was a clear winner; the console was selling left and right. While Xbox One consoles were selling too, their sales were somewhat limited. This happened due to that infamous reveal event that somewhat drove away the hardcore gaming crowd.
As a result of the success of the PlayStation 4, this console went on to sell around 117 million units. In comparison, Microsoft’s console moved around 58 million units. This marked the start of an era where the PlayStation would reign supreme.
The effect of that can still be seen today; the Xbox Series S and X struggle to sell as much as the PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch. Maybe this is why Microsoft has decided to go third-party. They announced Sea of Thieves, Hi-Fi Rush, Pentiment, and Grounded would be coming to PlayStation 5.
Out of these games, Pentiment and Grounded were also announced for the Nintendo Switch. Some say Hi-Fi Rush would instead launch for the Nintendo Switch 2, but that’s a whole other thing. The thing that needs to be discussed here is: what next?
Yes, four of Microsoft’s games are coming to the PlayStation 5. Heck, Sea of Thieves is even selling at record numbers; what would Microsoft bring to PS5 next? Will it be the Halo franchise? They reportedly ended the development of Halo: The Master Chief Collection last July.
These kinds of decisions are made for one reason: they are moving on to a new project. Is this new project a port for the PlayStation 5? It cannot be hard; as games developed for PS5 get ported to PCs without much fuss, maybe it can go the other way around.
This move would only benefit Microsoft, as they know these games would sell incredibly well on Sony’s console. Halo is an iconic series, and everyone deserves to be able to try their hands on these games. And there can’t be a better time to port them than now. This port was even hinted at by Peter Moore during an interview.
Let’s see if any of these things end up happening in this reality. After that, the conversations about Gears of War on PS5 can start.
Nintendo remains a stubborn presence in the industry
There’s no doubt in the world that Nintendo is a trailblazer. They start something, and people follow. The Nintendo Wii led to the motion gaming revolution that was followed by the PS Move and Kinect. Then they released the Wii U, and remote play became a thing. But they never even mentioned the idea of going multiplatform.
This step on their part makes sense, though. Nintendo is a company that comes out a winner in every way. In 2022, Sony celebrated God of War: Ragnarok as their fastest-selling first-party game. It had sold 5.1 million copies in the 12 days since its launch. The same month, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet sold 10 million copies within 3 days of their launch on a single platform. Maybe that’s why they don’t care about going multiplatform.
