Halo’s Ex-Lead Gives Activision Three Paths Back — and Wants Laid-Off Bungie Staff to Build Them

Frank O’Connor, the man who led Halo’s development for years, has told Activision exactly how to fix the series. And his advice includes hiring people Microsoft just laid off, plus a pitch for a Call of Duty-style version of Halo. It is classic O’Connor.

The former Halo franchise director spent the early 2000s at Bungie, where he worked on the original games, then moved to 343 Industries as development director. He left during an internal shakeup in 2023, shortly before 343 rebranded into Halo Studios, which has since been gutted due to Xbox’s “reset.” Now that Activision is building the next Halo game with a “purpose-built team,” O’Connor has stepped forward with three suggestions. None of them are easy, he said.

“There are three paths,” O’Connor recently commented on a LinkedIn post, talking about whatever Activision’s Halo plans are. “None of these are easy, guaranteed or necessarily viable.”

The Three Paths

O’Connor’s first idea is simple: make a classic Halo game. That means heavy movement, chaotic sandbox play, and a design tailored to a core audience. But he wants it scaled up too, so it grows beyond that core. “Tailored to a core audience [and] scaled to be attractive to a broader one so it can grow,” he wrote, adding that “Halo MP is better with more people playing, by mathematical default.”

His second path is far more radical. It involves reinventing the game and the universe in a surprising but fantastic way. “Maybe it’s a new take on the FPS, maybe it’s an action RPG,” O’Connor wrote. Either way, it would get “a small head start based on curiosity or loyalty.” Fans were not sold on the idea of a full lore reboot.

Then there is the third path, which O’Connor describes as “Call of Halo.” The idea is to translate Halo’s IP and sandbox into Activision’s comfort zone, using “player progress and business models that are proven to work” time and again in the Call of Duty series. Activision could craft “a big annual or semi-annual spectacle and constant content,” much like it does for its other military shooters.

Bonus Tips

O’Connor did not stop at three paths. He added two more bonus tips. The first is blunt: “Hire Bungie, Halo Studios and other laid off folk who are bursting with talent and ideas that got nerfed or shut down over the years.”

The second tip is about timing. He urged Activision to avoid tying the next Halo to “hardware/service launch cycles” or forcing it to launch on aging platforms. He pointed to Halo Infinite’s Xbox One version as the kind of mistake to avoid.

The Order of Difficulty

The three paths cover a wide range of approaches, from familiar ground to radical departure:

1. Make a classic Halo game. Familiar movement, familiar chaos, scaled for growth.
2. Reinvent the game and the universe. Surprising but fantastic, with a small head start.
3. Translate Halo into the Call of Duty formula. Big spectacle, constant content, proven models.

O’Connor frames all three as possible, but none as easy. The Call of Duty path is the most radical break from what Halo has been, while the classic path is the safest return to form. The reinvention path sits in between, asking players to trust a surprise rather than a guarantee.

Why the Bungie Hire Makes Sense

O’Connor’s call to hire laid-off staff is the sharpest part of his advice. He believes those people have ideas that were “nerfed or shut down over the years.” Bringing them back would not just add talent to the team — it would reconnect Activision to the history of the series.

That history matters. Halo is not just a set of games. It is a cultural touchstone with a loyal audience, and O’Connor’s advice treats that audience as something to respect rather than ignore.

What Comes Next

Activision has not even assembled a new team for the project yet. The next Halo is still likely years away. The publisher has not said what path it will take, and O’Connor’s three suggestions remain open questions rather than commitments.

The Call of Duty path is the one that carries the most risk. It asks Halo to become something closer to Call of Duty, which would change the identity of the franchise entirely. But it also offers a proven model for success.

O’Connor’s advice is generous. He is offering his experience to help Activision succeed where others have stumbled. His three paths cover the full range of possibilities, from safe to wild, and his bonus tips are practical rather than abstract.

The question now is whether Activision listens. The company has not commented on O’Connor’s suggestions, and it has not announced a team or a direction. For now, the next Halo remains a project in search of a plan — and O’Connor has offered three of them.

Here is what we know so far:

1. O’Connor has three paths for Activision’s Halo.
2. He wants the company to hire laid-off Bungie and Halo Studios staff.
3. He warns against tying the game to hardware launch cycles.
4. The next Halo is still likely years away.

The next chapter of Halo is not written yet. But O’Connor has written his own script for how it could go. Whether Activision follows it will determine whether Master Chief’s next comeback is smoother than his last four attempts.

Source material: “Former Halo lead suggests three ways Activision could revive the legendary series, and urges the company to hire laid off Bungie staff,” Eurogamer.

Activision · Bungie · game industry · Halo · Xbox