Xbox has been going through major internal changes ever since Asha Sharma took over. According to industry expert Jez Corden on the Xbox Two Podcast, Xbox may be looking at Activision to take over Halo development entirely — a move Corden says would help the franchise finally reach its full potential after years of underperformance under 343 Industries and Halo Studios.
Why Activision Makes Sense for Halo
Halo 2 and Halo 3 had one of the best multiplayer scenes in FPS gaming. Those games pulled millions of players before Call of Duty became the dominant name in the genre. Halo Infinite launched in 2021, got decent reviews, and never came close to those numbers. The franchise name still means something — the actual player counts have not matched it for years.
Activision runs the Call of Duty multiplayer machine. COD is one of the most consistently active competitive shooters on the market and has been for over a decade. The argument for handing Halo’s multiplayer to that team is straightforward — they know how to keep a shooter alive long after launch, which is the one thing the series has not been able to do on its own.
Halo Campaign Evolved Is the Deciding Factor
Halo Campaign Evolved launches July 28, 2026 and is shaping up as the most important release for the franchise in years. The Xbox Games Showcase trailer showed a return to the series’ core feel and mechanics — a deliberate step back toward what made the original games work rather than pushing into new territory that did not land.
Source: Halo — Official Announcement / Xbox
If Campaign Evolved performs well, Halo Studios may get the chance to continue. If it underperforms, the Activision handover could happen much sooner. Corden framed the timing as tied directly to that launch, making the next few weeks a defining moment for the franchise’s future leadership.
COD Modern Warfare 4 is set for October 2026 and Corden indicated its performance factors into Xbox’s restructuring plans. A strong MW4 launch would reinforce Activision’s position as the right team to handle a second major FPS franchise. A weak one could change the calculus entirely.
Xbox is essentially running two tests at once — one on the franchise’s own momentum and one on Activision’s current form. Both results feed into the same decision.
Final Thoughts
The franchise has been searching for a direction since Halo 5 and Halo Infinite failed to recapture the series’ peak. Putting Activision in charge of development is a drastic option, but an understandable one given how long it has been underperforming. July 28 is now the most important date in the series’ recent history — not just for the game but for the team making it.
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