Capping a week of Halo rumors, blogger The Mole has an interesting (and entirely speculative) editorial on the prospects of the "billion dollar game" he calls "Halo Online":Halo Online will be as big as World of Warcraft and will be Microsoft’s first “billion dollar game.” Don’t be surprised if this game gets 10 million subscribers paying $10-15 a month within the first three years. That would be over a billion dollars a year in revenue.
I know this all sounds a bit crazy, but here is the reasoning. Bungie originally promised huge multiplayer battles and epic battles for earth in Halo 2. That didn’t happen, but I’m sure Bungie tried to make it happen. At the same time World of Warcraft has been making huge waves in the gaming world with it’s 6 million subscribers worldwide paying $15 a month just to play. A couple years ago those kinds of numbers would have been seen as pure insanity, but Blizzard’s near-perfect execution of the MMORPG genre in World of Warcraft made 6 million subscribers a reality. Bungie is one of the few studios who could make the same thing happen to the MMOFPS on a console.
Mole says thinks this could be the secret nuke that wins the console wars for the 360. I have no doubt that a well done "Halo Universe" massively multi-player game of any derivation would run rings around the gaming industry—an idea that can't be lost on the people in charge. But seeing as how we already pay for Xbox Live, would the corporate masters in Redmond really squeeze us for an extra $15 per month a piece out of pure Gold Farmer greed? My guess is they would.
Back in the reality-based community, Bungie.org says the rumor that the next Halo game will be called Forerunner, is a lame April Fool's prank concocted by Game Informer. Don't you love the dead tree gaming media?
[Previously: MS exec hints at Halo spin-off?]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-17-2006 @ 6:44PM
Panda said...
Well, XBL is dear enough anyway, but having said that I would pay for it
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3-17-2006 @ 7:11PM
Gamer Jay said...
There's no way that there could be separate monthly charge for this unless it was exclusively on the PC. Microsoft is entirely dedicated to gaining a large subscriber base with Xbox Live. If anything, this MMORPG or MMOFPS would be part of the XBL service.
Instead of charging a subscription for this game, Bungie could probably offer certain characters, weapons, etc. on XBL Marketplace to gain a bit more profit.
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3-17-2006 @ 8:10PM
Gnio said...
I could see this happening. Gamers are going to be charged to Play Final Fantasy XI Online, why not Halo? As long as Bungie pulled it off, which they definitly could, I'd pay for it.
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3-17-2006 @ 9:45PM
Robotron said...
I agree.
It doesn't mean you pay for both.
People with a silver subscription could still access it with a monthly fee (just like Final Fantasy).
I think the Halo universe could work and Bungie is innovative enough to avoid the typical grind.
Halo and Halo 2 are still the most popular games in my house, we just play them on the 360 now.
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3-17-2006 @ 10:57PM
Jaesal said...
Nope it wouldnt happen... They defiantly could not charge Gold subscribers a fee. Lets get real here guys. A Halo MMO would defiantly blow the industry away. Microsoft wants Xbox live subscribers right? Gold members access it for free. Silver members could pay 8.99 per month. The best way for the consumer would be to go the Gold route. They would eventually end up w/ 8-10 million live subscibers in 3 years. Dont put it on PC. Make it XBOX 360 EXCLUSIVE. Make those PC guys go purchase the system. And just like HALO made you buy the first XBOX. THIS Halo would make you buy the 360. This HALO would make the shadiest PS3 fanboy buy the 360. PS-WHAT?... World of War-WHO?... But the game would have to be made right. The Spartan status would have to be elite. And the soldier ranking system would have to be balanced perfectly. Not some gussied up version of Planetside.
But personally I would like to to have the current story finished in a single player or co-op mode. Close out this current chapter with Halp 3, then uncage the beast, let him fully take adavantage of the hardware and
let him make gaming history.
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3-18-2006 @ 12:07AM
Dwayne said...
There is no way I pay a monthly fee for any game on top of my gold Live subscription. Period. I would boycott the game out of principle.
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3-18-2006 @ 1:38AM
veto said...
yeah ive been saying this for months aswell, its such a obvious opertunity there is not a chance it wont happen , the genre is crying out tobe done well, and the monthly fee revenue is something no company could ignore .
bring it on i say , to think that nobody took from planetside and made it better yet is crazy, so much potential for the genre .( huxley and its zoned fighting doesnt count)
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3-18-2006 @ 1:42AM
veto said...
ohh and for those saying they couldnt do this with the monthly fee i think are wrong , we pay a measly 40 quid a year for the live service .
getting charged a few MS points a month wont mean jack if they do it well.
the popularity of the game would win over those who are unsure of paying.
a game like this couldnt be done without the monthly fee , so its either pay up or miss out, i know what ill be doing .
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3-18-2006 @ 5:49AM
Chris Graber said...
I don't think this would happen. . .though its nothing about fees. I mean this "GOLD" thing doesn't cover MMO fees, just like you had to pay extra for stuff like phantasy star online. . .and their isn't a "GURANTEE" anywhere on the box that an application can't have its own fees. An MMO would require extra fees, or it wouldn't be worth it.
But people seem to forget the clear and crucial fact here. HALO isn't World of Warcraft. Who would want to play a RPG version of Halo2? Where you don't shoot, but instead click on the guy your attacking select weapon and wait for the battle.
Eh crap. . .
And I've never seen a giant online game be able to pull off a thousand players actually doing something like a FPS.
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3-18-2006 @ 7:10AM
veto said...
8"And I've never seen a giant online game be able to pull off a thousand players actually doing something like a FPS".
you havent played planetside then ?
behind all its flaws that game/genre has loads of potential , the large battles with ground and air support were really impressive .
nobodys talking about any point and click stuff ,
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