In a blogpost by 343industries about The Master Chief Collection, the studio has revealed they have no current plans for a Halo Wars 3. And support for Halo Wars 2 is done.
”It’s hard to believe that later this month will mark the 4-year anniversary of Halo Wars 2’s launch! While a lot has changed over the course of the past four years, one thing certainly hasn’t – the Halo Wars community continues to be one of the most passionate groups of players out there. We’re thankful for the care and time you’ve given to Halo Wars 2 and all of the feedback, requests, and insights you’ve shared with our team over the years. Thank you!
We always strive to be open, honest, and transparent with our community and we know many of you have been waiting, asking, and hoping for news about the future of Halo Wars 2. We want to acknowledge that we’ve heard you and make sure you know that this feedback and these topics do indeed get brought to the right folks across the studio for further evaluation. In the past, we’ve noted the Publishing Team was fully focused on MCC and we had no current plans to return to Halo Wars 2. Now, with all the titles on PC, we’ve seen these questions popping up again although the 343 Publishing Team is still working on more MCC seasonal content along with a variety of features and further improvements. It’s not always easy to be open and transparent – particularly when we expect it’s not an answer the community wants to hear – but we want to give it to you straight: 343 Industries has no current plans for further Halo Wars 2 work including content updates, balance patches, bringing the title to other platforms, or a new game in the series. We will, however, continue to monitor the game and ensure everything is working as expected.
”Yes, we did use the word “currently” because it’s the truth – as of today, there is no plan for the development team to re-engage with Halo Wars 2 and we aren’t working on a new game in the series at this time. But, we’re specifically never going to say never because, well, who knows what the future may bring. If you told me back in the day that the totality of MCC would land on Steam or Halo 3 would get content updates 14 years after launch, I’d never have believed it and yet here we are. We know constantly waiting and wondering is equal parts frustrating and exhausting, so we hope this clarity helps alleviate some of that and we want to set clear expectations that there is no work happening on Halo Wars.
The next question is surely “why?” and it really boils down to the realities of finite time, resources, and focus for the studio. The 343 Publishing team has no shortage of ideas and inspiration to pursue for MCC and plenty of ongoing work to support the Halo franchise. Meanwhile, the majority of the studio is incredibly focused working towards Halo Infinite’s launch (and you may have also heard, “launch is only the beginning”). Given the broader impact initiatives the studio is already committed to, we unfortunately can’t devote the time and attention we’d need to deliver additional updates and content for the Halo Wars franchise.
Halo Wars 2 will continue to be a special game with a very special community and for that, we’re grateful. Over the years, we’re fortunate to have had the opportunity to deliver numerous updates ranging from brand new content to an unexpected map to balance patches directly shaped by players (the most recent of which landed just last August). Halo Wars 2 expanded the Halo Universe, introduced us to new characters and experiences, and inspired the future of the franchise with its classic art style and the introduction of The Banished. Thank you again to everyone in the Halo Wars community for your support and we look forward to facing The Banished together again this Fall in Halo Infinite.”
This means Halo Wars 2 isn’t receiving any additional support or a port to other platforms such as Steam. It also means 343i and Microsoft have no plans for a Halo Wars 3.
