Halo’s Former Franchise Creative Director Sees 3 Possible Paths for Activision’s Halo

Frank O’Connor, Halo’s Franchise Creative Director for nearly 20 years at 343 Industries/Halo Studios (who, fun fact, was once my colleague at Official Xbox Magazine), has weighed in on Halo’s future at Activision, suggesting three viable paths forward for Xbox’s former biggest franchise.

O’Connor, who moved on from 343 Industries in 2023, was responding to a post on LinkedIn by former Xbox Social Media Manager of Executive Communications Genevieve Harrison about Halo’s move to Activision. Harrison was discussing how Activision might approach Halo, and said in part, “Talent is not a SharePoint folder you drag from /Call of Duty into /Halo and wait for the little green checkmark. What Activision does know how to do is run the absolute hell out of a giant franchise. Maybe that operational discipline is exactly what Halo needs. But Activision isn’t riding in to save Xbox either. Microsoft paid $68.7 billion for Activision Blizzard. Activision is Xbox. Maybe it works. I hope it does because I’d love another great Halo game.”