Microsft Studios head Phil Spencer recently revealed that Microsoft had previously discussed whether or not it should hold off on Halo 4 in order to have a Halo title ready for the Xbox One’s launch in 2013. Fortunately for Xbox 360 owners, the company opted to push through with 343 Industries’ first new installment of the franchise and it managed to successfully bring Master Chief back into the limelight.

As fans are now well aware, Halo 4 went on to become the top-selling Microsoft Game Studios title of all time in the United States, so there’s little doubt that Microsoft is regretting the decision to ship the game for the Xbox One’s predecessor. Odds are that the launch game itself would have just been a better looking version of Halo 4, and this likely would have meant a delay in the releases between the fourth and fifth iterations — the latter of which was teased for Microsoft’s new console at E3 2013.

“Unlike some franchises that manage through 1,000 people, Halo is 343 and that team obviously has tight control. They are our Halo team. A discussion around having a Halo game at launch – a true Halo at launch, meaning like a Halo 4 or 5-size game – would have been something we’d have had to start two or three years ago. We had the discussion, and we thought having Halo 4 come out when it came out from 343 and having them really land their first full version of Halo that they developed internally would be great for the 360 customers, great for 343 in shipping something.”

Those looking for a dose of Halo on Xbox One (or Xbox 360) will be able to partake in the downloadable Halo: Spartan Assault when it launches next month. In the meantime, there are still a number of worthwhile games available for the platform, with plenty of other triple-A titles scheduled to arrive in the following months.

Do you think launching Halo 4 on Xbox 360 was a good call, Ranters? Will you be picking up, or have you already picked up, an Xbox One in anticipation of Halo 5?

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Follow Riley on Twitter @TheRileyLittle for more news about Halo for Xbox One.

Source: Kotaku