In a sweeping shake-up of Xbox's first-party studios, Activision Blizzard is now in charge of Halo. That's a wild sentence, but it's real. The Call of Duty publisher is taking stewardship of the franchise, and it's also picking up Rare and World's Edge. Those two teams used to sit under the Xbox Game Studios banner. Now they'll operate under Activision Blizzard.
For Rare, that means Activision will help steer the evolution of Sea of Thieves. World's Edge, meanwhile, will see Activision take command of Age of Empires. The whole reorganization touches pretty much every corner of Xbox's first-party ecosystem. Honestly, it's a lot to process.
Moving Halo to Activision is the biggest surprise. 343 Industries had overseen the series ever since Bungie split from Microsoft to go independent. The studio shipped Halo: The Master Chief Collection, Halo 4, Halo 5: Guardians, and Halo Infinite. Later it rebranded as Halo Studios, hoping to push the franchise in a new direction. Halo: Campaign Evolved served as an example of how the series could work on Unreal Engine.
Activision president Rob Kostich didn't mince words about the responsibility. "We're thrilled to welcome Halo, Rare, and World's Edge to Activision," he said. "It's an honor and a responsibility that we do not take lightly. These teams and their games have inspired fans around the world for decades."
He went further on Halo specifically. "For Halo, our goal is clear: make the greatest Halo game ever, worthy of its universe and legacy, while staying true to what made players love it in the first place. It is a bold ambition, one that this franchise deserves. We have already begun assembling a purpose-built team, unique in capability and talent, ready and excited to deliver this next chapter with the community."
And to the other studios? "To the World's Edge and Rare teams, we can't wait to get to work together."