The rising trend of domain squatting has made it difficult for large and small developers alike, who want to stake their claim in the vast, relatively new frontier called the World Wide Web. With the new car smell quickly being replaced with spam and identity fraud, shady organizations who take part in domain squatting often hope to achieve financial gain — either through directly selling their nest egg domains to legitimate developers who require them, or intentionally diverting traffic to their own websites, which are often riddled with spyware, or worse.
While this under-handed tactic is slowly being dealt with on a legislative level, companies like Microsoft have taken matters into their own hands. Recently, the multi-billion dollar developer registered many variations of domains for potential upcoming titles in the acclaimed Halo series — going as far as snatching up halo7.com through halo9.com, with .org and .net variants.
At first glance, it seems like a pretty bold move. Where did Halo 7 come from, and are Microsoft really planning that far ahead — or are they covering their bases just in case? It can be argued that, as with their series of Windows operating systems, Microsoft is simply referring to the seventh chapter of the Halo saga. Earlier this year, however, Microsoft already snagged halo5.com, with halo6.com currently being parked by an individual not involved with the game series.
While Microsoft is certainly making sure there is a little corner of the Internet just for them, in the event that sequels like Halo 7 become a reality, it’s interesting to see how far they might imagine the series going.
Ranters: keeping in mind the vast timeline created in the Halo universe, can you see the franchise launching into the double-digits? If so, what might these games be about?
Halo 4 is currently finishing development by 343 Industries, and drops November 6th for the Xbox 360.
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Source: Fusible
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Microsoft registered those domains just in case. The Halo franchise may go up to Halo 9, or it may not. Microsoft is just covering all its bases. Plus, Microsoft doesn’t want cybersquatters using those domains. I do have one question, though: how were those domains not already registered? You’d think cybersquatters would’ve snatched those up months or even years ago.
These days it’s hard to imagine a franchise making it to the 9th installment without being rebooted, but Halo seems like it’ll probably make it there.
I think Resident Evil’s main storyline is going to hit 9 titles with Resident Evil 6. Definitely one hell of an accomplishment. Keeping that many people interested in a franchise to warrant not only that many main titles but the many spin-offs of it as well. I think if Resident Evil can do it then so can Halo.
Wow, and that’s a perfect example of milking a franchise.
How is this milking a franchise? Nowhere did they say there would be a Halo 7-9. Publishers do this a lot just in case it happens, that way they don’t have to fight other people for the domains like Activision had to do last year with a Modern Warfare 3 site.
Come on though, 7-9? Obviously by making the domains they have considered the possibility of the games and I think if they do, that really is milking the Halo franchise.
Milking the franchise? It took 6 years for the original Halo trilogy to conclude after Halo: CE released, and 343 studios said that the next 10 years was about the new trilogy. If there are 9 core games, sure, there will be a lot of them, but they will be over a span of about 30 years, which is hardly milking a series, because as Varteras said, at the end of this year, there will have been 9 core Call of Duty games in the last 9 years whereas there will have only been 4 core Halo games in the last 11 years. Also, it’s been 5 years since Halo 3, and Halo is one of the platform’s biggest, if not the biggest, exclusive titles. What do you want them to do? Abandon the series while there is still such high demand for it?
I think it’s safe to say R just got owned. Definitley agree with you. Even if Halo makes it to 9 games it will not have been milked seeing as they release a core Halo game every 3 years. Now, if Halo makes it to 9 games by the end of this decade then yes R, it will have been milked. But I seriously doubt that will happen.
No, it’s a perfect example of making sure you can use those domain names in the event you decide to create said games. Domain squatters have become a growing issue for legitimate businesses. Even if Microsoft decided to make five more games after Halo 4 can you really call it milking if they’re spread out over 10 years or more? If you want a perfect example of milking something look at Call of Duty. Every year for the last 9 years, including Black Ops 2, has seen at least one new Call of Duty game.
Yes, since 2009 we’ve seen a new Halo title every year. One was a strategy game, one was a single player spin-off (used the same multiplayer as Halo 3), one was a prequel, and the most recent was a reboot of the original. Now we have Halo 4 coming. However, I don’t think we’re going to see another barrage of Halo titles in the same time span. I would put money on not seeing another Halo game until 2 or 3 years after Halo 4.
Considering how much of the Halo universe has yet to be explored I’d say they’ll probably need that many games at least to cover the core of it all. Based on the recent novels there is a lot they could do with taking us into the distant past, always plenty they can do with the present, and even build for us some future threats.
Now if Halo 4 launches this year and Halo 5 is announced for 2013… yeah I’ll say it’s totally being milked.
No, that would be what call of duty is doing. That is why there is a game every years of COD.
If there is a Halo 7-9, I don’t see them being called that, but rather have subtitles similar to Halo: Reach. It’d be interesting to see a prequel trilogy around the time when Halo Wars took place.
A trilogy of trilogies O_o
Lulz.
lmao you read my mind, and expressed how i feel
If they have a third trilogy in mind, it’s because the vast and expansive universe of halo has another story arch to tell. Telling a story to its fullest is not milking it. It’s caring about the quality of a story. Could I find myself eating my words later? Yeah, maybe. But 343 has seemed to truly care about this ONE game. I think the future is in good hands.
I’m not worried about this trilogy at all. In fact, I see this being better than the original. Now, if 343 isn’t at the helm for 7, 8, and 9, who knows how things will go? I don’t think they’re thinking about a third trilogy though, I think Microsoft did this just for future use, just in case.
I don’t think either side is completely up for dismissal. Halo domains are a logical purchase for the rights holder to Halo. But at the same time, this is also about money. If this new trilogy knocks it out of the park, then why would Microsoft let it stop at that? Plus, Halo is practically the gaming poster boy for Microsoft. I think as long as Halo is turning profit and Microsoft is invested in gaming, there will always be another iteration of Halo planned. And who knows, if 4-6 are meant for Masterchief, then maybe 7-9 will be Arbiter-centric. Of course, if that timeframe is true, in ten+ years’ time we’d all be busy explaining just who the hell the Arbiter was to the next generation of gamers…
i just wished they would have considered redoing Halo 2 like they did with Halo CE. i think it was a big mistake to say they arent going to do that, especially considering the annoying graphical problems Halo 2 has on the 360
I believe that they this as a purpose for the Next Gen Consoles. Imagine on the new Xbox the perfection of Halo 5 can reach with High res textures and pushing 60 fps with no problems. Imagine the beauty for the potential next game that maybe created or not. But at least they have the domains on lock down. But people have to understand also that Master Chief is a icon for Microsoft an exclusive character what reason would they not continue the series. In reality there’s more to Halo then just the games, for instance you have the anime series which is like five episodes, and you also have the books. I don’t see why they wouldn’t go up too 9, they could make games out of those books just for those who aren’t into reading and rather see visually. But I want hear from more out of others who agree or disagree.
Continuing the Halo story into 7,8,9 will depend entirely on the willingness of our children to WANT to see the story continue. Sure MC is a Microsoft icon, but Mario is a Nintendo icon and he is a nostalgia figure anymore. Kids are not as interested in nostalgia figures. The REAL question is what is the new “generation” of gamers going to look like? With tech changing so fast, games are becoming more immersive, and yet the consoles are becoming more diverse, which sets the stage for a overload of consoles, and an overload of the gaming induustry. Gaming saturation if you will. Just like the auto industry was saturated back in the 1930′s 40′s and 50′s. Its a possibility, and I know that as a 30+ year old gamer I can see the trend torward overwhelming the marketplace. Things will sort out in the tech world never, there will always be more innovation, so that leaves the game-makers. Where will the next gen of gamers decide the industry should go?