Halo Co-Creator Reacts To Franchise Moving To Activision: “Shocked But Not Entirely Surprised”

The Halo franchise has a new home at Activision, as Microsoft announced sweeping changes to its Xbox games division this week. As various Xbox studios are being consolidated under new branches of the company, Halo co-creator Marcus Lehto has commented on the series' move to Activision.

"Shocked but not entirely surprised by the news of the Halo Studios closure and moving the franchise to an Activision team," Lehto wrote online. "Wishing the best for all the developers who were affected by this decision. I, as well as you all, am eager to learn more about what’s next."

While it's still early days, Activision has confirmed that its Halo game will be developed by a "new, purpose-built team," separate from its army of studios responsible for annual Call of Duty games. Halo Studios will still exist, but in a reduced capacity following a fresh wave of layoffs. Going forward, the studio will be focused on supporting the Halo games that have already been released and the wider Halo community.

The Halo franchise has had several ups and downs, with 2026 also marking the series' 25th anniversary. Previously, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma had commented on how Microsoft wants to revive Halo as a tentpole franchise, while Lehto spoke about just how expensive it would be to pull off that resurrection. Lehto also called out the Halo: Combat Evolved remake for being "too heavy-handed–pandering to a new era of players with 0% attention span," and he suggested that remaking Halo would require a radical fresh start.

As the former Halo developer put it, the lore around the game has become "too convoluted," and he believes his idea for a "darker" and "more grounded" Halo game would be the right way to reboot the series, even if it ends up alienating some players. "PvP would be the brains, PvE the heart and soul. It would not be 'everyone's' Halo," Lehto wrote online in August.

In other news related to the latest happenings of the "Xbox reset," Playground Games and Turn 10 Studios have merged; things are looking dire for Ninja Theory; and State of Decay 3 developer Undead Labs has found a new publisher--while also being forced to start layoffs.