Microsoft is setting the bar high for Halo 5: Guardians, the latest installment in its popular first-person shooter franchise due for release on Xbox One this October.
It’s going to be the “biggest game” ever launched by Microsoft’s Xbox division, according to Xbox product manager Kuran Kapoor. That’s a pretty bold statement given the near-15 year history of Microsoft’s range of Xbox consoles. With PlayStation 4 leading hardware sales this console generation, Microsoft needs to give gamers a good reason to buy an Xbox One. It’s banking on Halo 5 being a big hit, despite the fact it’s releasing into a busy window for shooters this fall, including the arrival of blockbuster titles like Star Wars: Battlefront and Call of Duty: Black Ops III.
“We are releasing in close proximity to some great games, but we couldn’t be more confident that Halo 5 will deliver upon expectations,” Kapoor told MCV. He promised “amazing announcements” about Halo 5 at next week’s Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) trade show in Los Angeles.
Halo’s track record says Kapoor could be right. Halo 4 took $300 million in a week when it released on Xbox 360 back in 2012. More recently, though, Halo: The Masterchief Collection on Xbox One — a remastered collection of previous titles in the series — suffered terrible multiplayer problems which rendered it pretty much unplayable, even forcing the cancellation of an official Halo esports tournament. Halo fans will hope that Microsoft’s learned a lot from that experience.