A former employee of Ensemble Studios, known for Age of Empires, revealed that Microsoft planned a large MMO in the Halo universe, but the project was shut down by then-head of Xbox, Don Mattrick.
According to developer Sandy Petersen, the game was codenamed Titan and was to take place tens of thousands of years before the events of the original series. It would explore the era of the Forerunners, the birth of the Covenant, and the Flood threat.
«In 2008, Ensemble Studios began planning a giant MMO in the Halo universe. Code name — Titan. The plot was to unfold tens of thousands of years ago, before the Halos were activated and destroyed all intelligent life in the galaxy».
But, according to him, the project was personally stopped by Don Mattrick. The reason — his bonus depended on Microsoft's profits in the next three years, and Titan could only be released in three and a half years. In order not to lose the bonus at the end of the year, Mattrick decided to shut down the development.
«Everything fell apart when Don Mattrick realized that his stock bonus was based on the revenue that Microsoft would get from games in three years».
Soon Ensemble Studios was closed, and with it, Titan disappeared. According to team estimates, the project could have brought the company about a billion dollars.
What if Titan had seen the light of day? An MMO based on Halo with ancient civilizations and new worlds could have changed the entire history of the series — but business turned out to be more important than ambition.
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