Halo was first revealed at MacWorld 1999, at a time when Semisonic’s “Closing Time” was one of the most popular songs on the radio. While the game and the song are otherwise unrelated, the theme of Bungie’s farewell to the Halo franchise seems to evoke the song’s memorable: line “Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.”
The team at Bungie talked about the last 20 years and how much the Halo franchise means to them. But they have also empowered fans to remember that the series ultimately belongs to them and to “hold these characters and stories and worlds to the same unflinching standards you did while we were at the helm, but allow them all to blossom and change and grow in the ways that they must.”
The developer also revealed that Halo matchmaking services will transfer to Microsoft’s 343 Industries on August 2, the same day they plan to release a documentary on Bungie’s history titled O Brave New Worlds. After that, they plan to go dark and begin serious work on their New Universe.
They closed by saying thanks to all their fans, but really, I think its the fans who should be saying thanks to them. Whether or not you like the Halo franchise, it changed video gaming forever. And that’s not something too many developers can say.
