Once upon a time, there was this beloved franchise we called 'Halo'. A magical era and game experience that quickly rose to become a titan of the gaming industry. A franchise that revolutionized first-person shooters, redefined multiplayer experiences, and cultivated a die-hard fanbase...
But no. Not any more. It's become a shell of its former self... And the things that are happening behind the scenes right now should be cause for concern for everyone...
If anyone was still bothering to be holding onto hope that Halo could potentially recover from its years of decline under 343 Industries, the latest tweets coming from the official Halo account for Women's History Month have completely obliterated that illusion entirely.. Sorry to be the barer of bad news here... although, I guess in a way, it's nice to have confirmation that the series is cooked so that we can all move on and not look back.
The tweet reads:
"This #WomensHistoryMonth, we honor the women whose brilliance, drive, and creativity continue to inspire change within our industry, studio, and community. We rise by lifting each other 💪Log in this month to claim your Women's History Month armor coating, visor, and emblem collection!"
Halo has absolutely nothing to do with Women's History Month. Nothing. This is a game about intergalactic warfare, super-soldiers bred for battle, and the struggle of humanity against an existential alien threat. Yet, here we find ourselves in 2025, with a franchise that's now been reduced to a corporate virtue signal, handing out pink-colored in-game cosmetics to satisfy a DEI checklist rather than actually focusing on making Halo great again. This is not just a simple tweet; it's far more emblematic of why Microsoft and Halo Studios (formerly 343 Industries) have lost the plot completely.
To make matters worse, of course they doubled down with yet another tweet:
"In celebration of Women's History Month, we salute strong female characters like Cortana, who remind us 'you can do it' 💪Log in to unlock your exclusive MCC nameplate!"
Yeah... you read that right. They're now holding up Cortana, an AI assistant, as an inspirational female character for Women's History Month. This isn't about representation or even celebrating gaming history at all; it's about pandering to a broken ideology that's long since infected nearly every single major western AAA developer, draining the soul from gaming in favor of corporate-approved activism. Microsoft may be the worst of the bunch.
The Problem Runs FAR Deeper: Halo Studios and the EXTREME Woke Takeover
If you look deeper into Halo Studios, it becomes painfully obvious why Halo has fallen so far. Microsoft has stacked their studio to the brim with ideologues instead of talented developers who actually understand Halo. Just look at this puked banner:
One of the major red flags was the hiring of Melissa Boone, someone I’ve spoken about before. Rainbow Boone, as I'll call her, based on her... colorful profile on LinkedIn, is the Chief of Staff and Head of HR at Halo Studios, has a track record of pushing woke initiatives over quality game development.
No agenda to be pushed forward here, right guys?
And what does Halo have to show for it? Infinite (heh...) delays, missing features, live-service disasters, and now the transformation of the franchise into a platform for hollow social messaging.
But it doesn’t stop there. We are just scratching the surface here. Another recent hire that should raise alarms is Pamela Piscitello, the Director of Marketing for Concord, Firewalk Studios’ infamous $400+ million flop. A game that cost an entire studio its existence is now somehow the blueprint for Halo's future. Pure insanity!
Instead of recognizing their failures and making necessary corrections in hirings, the gaming industry keeps recycling these same wokies responsible for failures - time and time again. They're ensuring that the rot continues to spread.
The Gaming Industry’s Woke Disease Keeps Mutating
It’s becoming painfully clear to me that no matter how many times a studio fails due to woke priorities, the people responsible never seem to face any consequences. Instead, they're continued to be rewarded with more influential roles at even bigger companies, allowing them to continue wrecking beloved franchises. It doesn't start and end with Women's History month celebrations. It's an established trend.
...And Black History month's Halo Tweet was before this:
And prior to that? Happy PRIDE Month. Halo should be a franchise focused on innovation, tight gameplay, and epic storytelling. Instead, it's been co-opted by woke DEI bureaucrats caring far more about optics than actually making a good game. Microsoft and Halo Studios have fully embraced the same ideology that tanked Concord, and now they’re ensuring Halo’s final demise. I say this out of passion for the original series. What we grew up loving... no longer exists.
This isn't just about one or two bad tweets—it’s about a trend in an industry that refuses to learn from its mistakes. The virus has adapted, and Halo Studios direction is the latest proof for everyone that we have a long, long way to go before the gaming industry can heal itself from this corruption.
~Smash
Halo Studios right now in the kitchen.
If you just scroll through this article and see all the rainbows you just know this thing is going to fail without even reading it.
First, heterophobia back when they first became "halo" studios, then the black supremacy during the last black history month and now misandry. This company really has become the woketivist trifecta. Is anyone even still paying attention to this company/studio? Whatever happened to 404/bungie. I miss them. I miss halo 2.