4 Lessons From Call Of Duty Activision Could Apply To The Next Halo Game

The Halo series is under new management following Xbox’s continuing “reset,” with the FPS series’ next project being created by Call of Duty developers Activision. With the dissolving nature of Halo Studios (the studio created from 343 Industries), even their remaining involvement in Halo‘s future is limited. This gives Activision a lot of room to change Halo in the future, but one of the best approaches to this would be to apply knowledge of what has and hasn’t worked for the developer’s flagship FPS franchise over the years.

There have been many, many, problems with the Call of Duty series lately, from poor monetization practices to lackluster matchmaking and multiplayer that players have criticized. In addition to these complaints, the recent focus on live service features in different FPS titles has soured many players’ opinions on Activision and other developers who enable those practices in exhaustive yearly releases. That being said, Activision’s Call of Duty games aren’t all bad, as they’ve established formulas that could work for Halo well.

4. Avoid Relying Too Much On Live Service & Monetization Features

Obviously, the biggest concern players have about Activision taking over Halo is that the studio will fall into their worst habits from Call of Duty — namely regarding monetization. There’s a large chance that the next Halo could have various Battle Pass systems and aggressive real-world spending models that locks any sort of progression behind pay walls. This isn’t to say that Halo Infinite didn’t have similar problems, but Call of Duty games have always been the poster child of forcing players to grind for items and offering payment options to skip that tedium.

Halo has always been an experience that is tied intrinsically to its single-player content, whether it’s something like Firefight from Halo: Reach or the campaigns that fans praise from earlier franchise entries. Call of Duty games have slowly been ditching any interesting narrative in favor of live service features, with some rumors about future games tying single-player progression to real-world spending. As fans of Madden 27 proved, having monetization and live service content tied to single-player options is a quick way to get your fans to hate your game with a burning passion.

Activision has been called out before for being too greedy or predatory with their live service approach, with limited content often aimed at keeping players at high costs. Battle Passes have quick expiration dates, cosmetic bundles cost far too much, and a large base game price tag are all things players don’t want to see come to Halo as well. Content bloat from these practices also cause game bloat that has already been a problem for Halo in the past, causing file sizes to grow ridiculously huge. The more Activision locks away a Halo experience behind live service, the less people will play the actual game.

3. Implement Smoother Matchmaking Systems Than Halo Has Had Before

Halo has been a series where online multiplayer is part of its core package, with the exception of Halo: Campaign Evolved not having any PvP competition in its design. Despite the remake’s lack of multiplayer, Halo fans typically expect robust online modes for the sci-fi FPS, with traditional Team Slayer mixing in with unique game types for varied matches. Yet, over the years, Halo‘s online functionality has slowly declined as player matchmaking has never quite been smooth. Although online co-op has usually been fine, queuing up for competitions comes with its issues.

Activision may be many things, but they have always prioritized how the Call of Duty series handles players connecting to one another. Call of Duty games usually fill large lobbies fast, and use robust rollback netcode to create smooth connections with large amounts of players. Halo games haven’t been “bad” in this department, but Activision’s expertise on the subject could help push the series to another level of online matchmaking quality. Multiplayer from Activision is usually snappy and fast, which could be just what Halo needs to modernize without alienating veteran fans.

With an increased focus on multiplayer from Activision perhaps comes with greater creativity from its teams than players saw in Halo 5: Guardians or Halo Infinite. Not to say those games had terrible maps, but Call of Duty‘s highly detailed and intentional PvP level design is one of the series’ strongest qualities. Character loadout customization and progressive killstreaks could be a welcome addition to Halo too, as long as they don’t change too much of what makes the sci-fi franchise appealing.

2. Commit To Regular Seasonal Updates For Continuous Content

While I don’t believe any Halo fan wants yearly Halo releases that dip the quality of the games down significantly (like what is happening with Call of Duty), there are benefits to a seasonal approach. Activision’s choice to split up Call of Duty‘s live service content into Seasons ensures that there are constantly new ways for players to stay engaged with the game, especially in regard to new weapons, cosmetics, and multiplayer maps. As long as fans have a chance to actually earn the content within Seasons before they disappear, that type of model could keep a new Halo game continuously interesting.

One reason why Halo Infinite struggled was because much of its content was stagnant, or took far too long to implement. Other live service titles like Overwatch 2 were poorly designed in the same way, leading to Overwatch to re-brand itself and go to a seasonal model eventually. The success of a well-paced Season model with free and paid rewards can’t be denied, as titles like Marvel Rivals proved early in its successful first year. Activision may not have a perfect system, but they do create genuine roadmaps that keep players awaiting fresh content that comes with useful updates.

Games like Halo Infinite didn’t change for a long time, marking a lack of commitment to actually push updates that improved its quality. Activision at least tries to make balance changes and patches to Call of Duty, reflecting how its developers respond to feedback during seasonal cycles. Should that care and attention on a Halo game’s development be put into action, players may give Activision more credit than they ever expected to.

1. Create More Mode Variety That Modern Halo Games Have Lacked

Older Halo games are often praised for how many routes players can take when it comes to multiplayer or single-player mode types for their enjoyment. From tackling long, challenging campaign levels with multiple difficulties/modifiers to jumping online in huge Big Team Battles, Halo has always offered something complete. That is, up until the very limited options available in games like Halo Infinite and Halo: Campaign Evolved. Those games simply left out much of what fans like about Halo, only adding modes slowly over long periods of time.

Something like the creative map building of Forge mode wasn’t in Halo Infinite until it was too late, while popular game types have been lost to time as more modern entries of the series have come out. This is not a complaint you can direct too heavily at Call of Duty, whose alternate Warzone mode was so popular that it may as well be an original game all on its own. The battle royale spin-off that Activision created (mainly to copy Fortnite and PUBG) still remains incredibly successful, showing how the studio is innovating on its multiplayer formula.

Having new modes that aren’t native to Halo could diversity its multiplayer to levels the franchise hasn’t seen before, created through inspiration Activision takes from Call of Duty. At the same time, Activision could choose to bring back and refine various modes from the franchise’s history, including the PvE Firefight or rarer multiplayer match types that have been absent for several games. While not many fans of Halo are happy that Activision is taking on the next title in the beloved series, the Call of Duty developers have skills to make a solid FPS from one of gaming’s most influential franchises.

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