Halo: Chronicles

*Halo: Chronicles*

***Halo: Chronicles***was an episodic project that was announced at Microsoft's official Xbox show, X06. As of 2009, the project was cancelled. The game was to be developed by WingNut Interactive; a game studio that resulted from a partnership between Microsoft Game Studios and Peter Jackson.

It is unknown when the game was supposed to be scheduled for release, and nothing has been confirmed as to why it was cancelled at all. It is also unlikely that the project will ever be picked up or completed.

## Background

*Halo: Chronicles*was the placeholder name for an "episodic interactive story telling" game that would have been set in the *Halo*universe, as confirmed by Microsoft on April 24, 2008. The game was to be a "new chapter" and a "new series" in the *Halo*story, was stated to feature a new, innovative way to play games, and was decribed by Peter Jackson as the "filmiest game." It was said that the game would also explore the "intimate, personal aspect of real war."It was also suggested that some aspects of John-117's back story would also be explored.

Not much is known as to why the project was shut down, but it was said to "collapse when the movie did."

## Production Notes

Very little was revealed about the story line, plot, etc.

In the UK-version of Xbox 360 magazine *Xbox World 360*, it was speculated that the game would be more of an "interactive movie" where some parts would be semi-playable, and certain decisions would lead to different outcomes that would then have to watch play out. It had also been stated that it would delve into John-117's back story.

*"But our deal with Peter is not about a movie person making a game. What we've talked about - and he agrees with this - is how we can use Live as a medium to introduce episodic interactive storytelling. There's some people in our industry who can tell stories - but they're not Peter Jackson."*

- Shane Kim elaborating on the nature of the episodic content of *Halo: Chronicles*, and on the relationship between Peter Jackson and Microsoft.
It was confirmed by Shane Kim at GDC 07 that the project was an episodic title. According to Microsoft, Jackson was planning two episodic series for Xbox 360. These games appeared to be in a downloadable format. Microsoft went on to tell that the game was now in the development phase.

Originally, Bungie had created a small internal team to cooperate with the New Zealand developers. When the movie and *Chronicles* fell through, the team was retained and tasked with the creation of *Halo 3 ODST* instead.

### Production Timeline

#### Announcement and Development

* **September 27, 2006**: *Halo: Chronicles*was announced alongside *Halo Wars* at Microsoft's X06 trade show in Barcelona, Spain.
* **March 7, 2007**: Microsoft executive Shane Kim revealed that "two episodic series...the first [of which] is in the *Halo*universe" were still in early design phases.
* **May 14, 2008**: Kim states that Microsoft were in talks with Jackson about "[they] can use Live was a medium to introduce episodic interactive storytelling."
* **August 1, 2008**: It was reported that Microsoft were still hiring for *Chronicles*, specifically for the creative director role, adding that candidates will be required to "bridge the gap between storytelling and the interactive experience while delivering on the *Halo*soul."

#### Cancellation

* **July 24, 2009**: The project was announced as cancelled, although Microsoft was "still looking into it" without the involvement of Jackson. Jackson later stated that the project "...sort of collapsed when the movie didn't end up happening."
* **2015**: While still in existence, WingNut Interactive still has not developed or published any titles.

## Trivia

* The game was stated to *"focus on the intimate, personal aspects of real war..."*
* When *Chronicles* was in development, a select team of Bungie employees - namely Joseph Staten and design director Mike Woo - was working in New Zealand with Jackson. When *Chronicles*was later cancelled, the team returned to Bungie to work on *Halo 3 ODST*instead.
	+ Because of this, it is entirely possible that some of the storytelling elements from *Chronicles*could have made it into *Halo 3 ODST*, especially in terms of the hidden side items.

## Links

### External Links

1. ↑ **Bungie.net**: *Bungie Weekly Update 4/25/08*
2. ↑ **Games Radar**: *"I've never heard of a motion-sensing controller..."*
3. ↑ **CVG**: *XBOX Interview: Shane Kim*
4. ↑ **Industry News**: March 7, 2007
5. ↑ **Kotaku**: *How And Why Halo 3: ODST Was Made In 14 Months*
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 **Joystiq**: *Peter Jackson tells Joystiq about the Halo movie, video game project*
7. ↑ **CVG**: *PREVIEWS: XBOX*