While I’m well aware that finished games often rest atop a mountain of cut or heavily revised work, I’m still regularly surprised by how extensively projects can change over the course of their development. A striking example was recently provided by Halo co-creator Marcus Lehto, who revealed that Master Chief’s suit design was revised nine times before Bungie settled on his final look.
Lehto, who is an alumnus of Ohio’s Kent State University, was speaking to Kent State Magazine (via GamesRadar) about the impact his education had on his future career. During that interview, he chatted about the process Bungie went through to design Master Chief’s armour.
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Lehto also recalls in the chat how, much like Bungie’s previous FPS series Marathon, Halo was intended to be a Mac game before Microsoft bought the company. “We got up on stage with Steve Jobs at Macworld and we talked about it there,” Lehto says.” Then Microsoft said, ‘Steve Jobs can’t have that. We’re going to buy you and move you all to the Pacific Northwest, and then we’re going to have you build this game for the Xbox.'”
It’s odd that Halo and Marathon have ended up on opposing sides once again, with Microsoft continuing to make Halo games while Bungie is making its extraction-based reboot of Marathon under the watchful eye of Sony. One thing both series’ share, however, is a turbulent recent history. Microsoft seems uncertain about how to move Halo forward following Halo: Infinite, retreating into the warm blankets of nostalgia with a second remake of Halo: Combat Evolved.
Bungie, meanwhile, has faced controversy, delays and layoffs with its reboot of Marathon, all while Sony has tightened its control over the studio, planning to fold it into PlayStation studios. Marathon is still on course for a launch next March, however, with a limited playtest happening in December.
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