Summary
- The relationship between Bungie and Ensemble may not have been as tense as Ensemble’s founder suggested.
- Bungie was cooperative with Ensemble in matters relating to series lore.
- Master Chief’s non-inclusion was a decision made by Ensemble, not Bungie.
The legacy of Halo Wars is an interesting one to analyse and discuss. Both Halo Wars (Ensemble Studios) and Halo Wars 2 (Creative Assembly) are brilliant examples of well-executed console RTS games. It’s not a platform that lends itself well to the genre, but Ensemble navigated these challenges as well as any studio could have. Unfortunately, Halo Wars wound up being the final game released by the legendary studio, as parent company Microsoft shuttered them shortly after due to executive mismanagement and a lack of focus.
The relationship between Bungie and Ensemble was supposedly a strained one, with Ensemble’s founder Tony Goodman saying Bungie believed the project represented a “whoring out” of Halo. A recent interview with Halo Wars lead designer Dave Pottinger from the VideoGamer Podcast suggests the relationship may not have been as tumultuous as Goodman’s comments suggest.
Master Chief Is Too Strong
Master Chief in Unreal Engine
“I think it’s an easy story to believe,” said Pottinger. “I can’t speak for everyone at Bungie, but the ones we worked with were all fantastic. And, to be honest, it was a fantastic business decision.” Pottinger went on to say that Bungie provided Ensemble with fantastic access to the series’ lore, and he understands that seeing someone else using your IP isn’t “the best thing ever.”
Halo Wars is set before the events of Halo: Combat Evolved, a decision that allowed Ensemble to craft its own story without interfering with Bungie’s story. Although people have speculated that this was done to sideline the narrative of Halo Wars, Pottinger reveals the decision to not use recognisable Halo characters as one the studio made without external pressure.
“We didn’t want to use Master Chief,” he revealed. “We were telling [the player] that you needed to care about everybody else. We thought as soon as Master Chief shows up, that’s all anybody’s going to [care about].”
He followed up by saying that in an RTS, there needs to be reasons to build every unit. One of the challenges that Ensemble faced was including spartans without having them be superior to every other unit.
Halo Wars remains one of the only spin-offs of Halo, a series that has been popular for over two decades.
