Halo Fans Fear Master Chief and Cortana Actors Are Being Recast

Halo fans are starting to get worried that Microsoft and Halo Studios are planning to recast Master Chief and Cortana’s actors. There are few characters as iconic as Master Chief. He’s the fact of Xbox, anytime you buy a new Xbox console, his helmet is plastered across the box. Halo is as synonymous with Xbox as Mario is with Nintendo. It’s a huge franchise that has managed to stay relevant after over 20 years on the market and a big part of that comes down to the love people have for Master Chief. He’s stoic, only speaks when he has a sick line to say, and has done countless badass things.

Although Halo 3 was initially believed to be the end of Master Chief’s story as Bungie began to move away from Halo, the legendary sci-fi hero made his return five years later in Halo 4. He has appeared as the main protagonist in three games developed by 343 Industries across the last decade or so, with many praising him as a highlight in these games. Although some of 343’s efforts have been received with mixed reception, Chief is the one constant that keeps players coming back. However, some fear that the studio may be making some big changes with his character going forward.

Halo’s Master Chief and Cortana Actors Fear Being Recast

Although it is expected that the next Halo game is still pretty far away, especially as 343 Industries rebrands into Halo Studios, it’s possible Master Chief’s longtime actor Steve Downes may not be a part of it. A new video from Rebs Gaming claims that Downes and Cortana actress Jen Taylor spoke to a fan at a recent convention and revealed they haven’t been contacted about future Halo games. Downes noted that he’s waiting for the call to return to Master Chief and will gladly work with the team again, but fears that call may never come.

Downes and Taylor have been on strike with other video game actors to demand industry-wide protections against AI and better working conditions/compensation. Downes believes that going on strike may have hurt their relationship with Microsoft and that they will be replaced with other actors. 343 Industries intended to replace Downes as Master Chief in Halo 4, even going as far as casting and recording lines with a new actor. However, internal tests indicated that people didn’t like the new voice and they worked to get the original Chief actor back in the booth before release.

It’s unlikely that Downes and Taylor are just playing coy to avoid revealing new info about a future Halo game, as what they’re saying could be damaging if they were actually working with them right now. It’s entirely possible that the next Halo game isn’t even close to needing to voice acting right now and that’s why Downes hasn’t been contacted. However, the cause for concern is valid. Call of Duty recently recast actors in its Zombies mode as some of them went on strike for the same reasons as Steve Downes and Jen Taylor. Call of Duty is made by Activision, a publisher owned by Microsoft.

Hopefully this isn’t the case as Steve Downes clearly cares a lot about Master Chief and wants to do the role in future games. However, it’s entirely possible Halo is rebooting and trying to go in an all-new direction. Halo has also made games without Master Chief in a leading role, so perhaps that could also be a reason why he’s not in the game. It’s heavily rumored that a remake of Halo: Combat Evolved is in the works as well, which could theoretically just use the original recordings Steve Downes did, but it would be weird if no one contacted him to tell him that they were reusing some of his old work.

What do you think about Halo potentially recasting Master Chief and Cortana? Let me know in the comments.