Speaking to Polygon, 343′s Kiki Wolfkill said they’d like to look elsewhere for inspiration when it comes to Halo games moving forward, and that everything don’t have to be built around the chief.

He’s always going to be a pretty critical component of Halo and the game experiences. I would hope that we could also build strength and investment in other characters, for no other reason than that’s part of what makes the universe interesting.

Master Chief’s not going away, but we need to be able to give people more connection points.

She added:

How we look at it is ‘Where do we want to be in ten years? What are the stories we want to tell?’

We have started to flesh out broad strokes of a few different arcs that are interesting. There could be opportunities where exploring a different game genre makes sense or exploring a different linear format makes sense. If the medium fits what we want to do, then we’ll definitely consider it. If there’s a great idea we get energized around [it].

Microsoft is expected to tease a new Halo title during its Xbox Meeting happening, rumors claim, in April, on the 26th to be exact.

In an open letter to fans on Halo Waypoint, O’Connor spoke of the difficulty of stepping into Bungie’s oversized shoes, the success of Halo 4, and the future of the franchise on the current, and next Xbox.

Halo 4, despite being the seventh or eighth game in the Halo series (depending on how you count them), was our first game. That is to say, our first-ever fully fledged title, built from the ground up creatively and technologically. So let me save you the trouble of trolling my statement: We have a lot to learn. We made a lot of mistakes. We can do better. And we know this, and we will. But I don’t want to spend the first moments of the year thinking about the negatives, because frankly, I am incredibly proud of both the team and the game that team created.

And for a first effort, it wasn’t half bad.

Stepping into Bungie’s oversized shoes would have been difficult, even for a well-established team. The challenge of wrangling that engine, that universe and that community was dizzying, even withering. Four years ago when our charter began, the challenge of starting the seed of a development team and then creating a sequel to Halo terrified us. A small group of us – names you know, like Kiki Wolfkill, Bonnie Ross, Kenneth Scott Josh Holmes and other characters who have moved on to different projects, different places – was tasked with doing something that was almost impossible.

But the team grew. And we learned. And we’re still learning. And the game arrived and it succeeded. Halo 4 is the best and fastest-selling Halo game in the series. It won critical acclaim. It won awards, from Best Graphics at the VGAs to Game of the Year at the Inside Gaming Awards. We altered the engine. We expanded the universe. We innovated in storytelling, technology, and even marketing. It wasn’t flawless by any stretch of the imagination, but by most objective criteria, it was a resounding success. So we know we have a lot to do. And we know we have a lot to learn. But we also know that we now have the capacity, the teamwork, the technology and the experience to do much better next time.

There are a ton of things we wish we’d done better: Features that didn’t make it into the final game. Glitches that emerged. Missteps made. DLC fiascos. Communication breakdowns. But there were things that went astonishingly well – the creation of a genuinely competitive AAA studio chief among them. A collection of talent and souls that can do something genuinely amazing on this and next-generation hardware. The overhaul of an amazing game engine – but one that really needed to be overhauled – and an amassed education on systems, people, code and audience that will stand us in great stead for the future.

I’m more excited about the future than the past. Excited about what this team is already working on. Excited about what this team is capable of. And excited about the future of Halo. A future we want you to be a part of. A future we’re building for you.

“Alot of people at 343 are already prototyping ideas and software and art for future Halo products,” Frank O’Connor told CVG.

“I can’t say more than that, but work on the game started actually before we launched Halo 4 and continues apace as we cycle staff through the team’s vacation breaks. We’re excited about the next game.”

That’s good and all, but don’t you think it’s a bit early for 343 Industries to be talking about Halo 5? I mean, it’s been what, just over a month since Halo 4 was released?

Share your thoughts.

A quick visit to the Halo Waypoint forum and you’ll see a slew of threads about the problem that’s been ongoing since November 26th. Instead of launching into games, gamers are instead sent to fall-back servers. The problem is also causing the temporary resetting of in-game ranks and loadouts.

The problem seems to have started when 343 Industries released the latest Spartan Ops missions.

“There are a few hundred players who have been unable to connect to our servers since yesterday,” explains a post by the Halo Waypoint forum team. “We’re investigating now and hope to have an update soon.”

Halo Waypoint has apologized for the inconvenience, and asked gamers experiencing problems to share their gamertag here.

Halo fansite Halo Council claims that the first pack, Crimson Map Pack, is set to launch on December 10th, 2012, followed by the Majestic Map Pack on February 25th, 2013, and the Castle Map Pack on on April 1, 2013.

Each pack comes ready with 3 maps and is expected to cost 800 Microsoft Points (MSP).

There’s an alternate option which allows games to pick up all three packs for 2,000 Microsoft Points via the Halo 4 War Games Map Pass.

In a response to Videogamer concerning the leaked dates, Microsoft said it has “nothing further to announce at this time”.

The game underperformed, however, as it sold less than Halo 3 – now the 15th biggest launch in UK history, or even Halo: Reach – UK’s 12th biggest launch, ever.

Assassin’s Creed 3 held on to 2nd, while FIFA 13 dropped one spot to 3rd.

Here’s the full list:

1. HALO 4
2. ASSASSIN’S CREED III
3. FIFA 13
4. NEED FOR SPEED MOST WANTED
5. FOOTBALL MANAGER 2013
6. SKYLANDERS GIANTS
7. WWE ’13
8. BORDERLANDS 2
9. JUST DANCE 4
10. MEDAL OF HONOR: WARFIGHTER
11. FORZA HORIZON
12. MOSHI MONSTERS: MOSHLINGS THEME PARK
13. RESIDENT EVIL 6
14. DISHONORED
15. THE ELDER SCROLLS V: SKYRIM
16. PROFESSOR LAYTON AND THE MIRACLE MASK
17. F1 2012
18. NEW SUPER MARIO BROS. 2
19. FORZA MOTORSPORT 4
20. LEGO BATMAN 2: DC SUPER HEROES

IGN – 9.8/10

Eurogamer – 8/10

Gamespot – 9/10

Joystiq – 5/5

CVG – 8/10

Polygon – 9/10

Videogamer – 9/10

Kotaku – “Yes”

GameInformer – 9.25/10

Furthermore, the company also announced that Halo: Reach had generated over $200 million in sales after being on the market for just one week. Even more staggering, collectively gamers have spent over 5 billion hours playing Halo.

“I’ve seen many of the sites that have documented some of the more gender-specific slanderous comments. This is behaviour that is offensive and completely unacceptable. I’d like to think most of our Xbox Live players don’t support this kind of behaviour,” Ross said in an interview with Gamespot.

Wolfkill added, “It can be dangerous to give adolescents a broadcast mechanism. There are always going to be jerks out there, and if you give them a way to express that side of their personality without being seen, you’re going to see this type of behaviour manifest itself.”

When Halo 4 was being developed, the question of gender was forefront on the developers minds, Ross made known, revealing that the studio debated which characters would be male and female throughout the campaign, and to question their own decision along the way.

“Most people look at a franchise like Halo, and automatically assume it’s run by a guy. People are surprised to learn that it’s a woman who’s running the Halo 4 show. When Microsoft created 343 Industries to take over Halo, I was given first choice to run the studio because I had proven myself. My gender played no part in it,” Ross concluded.

Halo 4 releases next Tuesday exclusively on Xbox 360.

Speaking to Polygon, Microsoft Studios head Phil Spencer told the site that Halo 4 was the “most important entertainment product in the company”. When asked if the new title was Microsoft’s most expensive game product ever produced, Spencer quipped: “Absolutely. Nothing’s even close.”

Halo 4 sees a worldwide release on November 6th.

The pass costs $24.99 (or 2,000 Microsoft Points) and gives you access to three War Games map packs as they become available. Additionally, purchasers receive two in-game helmets (‘Scanner’ and ‘Strider’) as well as a unique in-game emblem (‘Falcon’).

The Halo 4 War Games Map Pass is included as part of the Limited Edition Halo 4 game, Microsoft says.

Below are the War Games map details:

Crimson Map Pack (December release timeframe)

• Maps: Wreckage, Harvest, Shatter
• Description: Witness the chaos of a clash of civilizations in Wreckage, with its blend of claustrophobic spaces and dangerous exposures and venture into the human colony environs of Harvest, and explore a human foray on an alien moon in Shatter.

Majestic Map Pack (February release timeframe)

• Maps: Landfall, Monolith, Skyline
• Description: Landfall’s emphasis is on infantry battles against a glittering ocean on a distant world, while Monolith exposes you to the naked vacuum of space – and the firepower of opposing teams, and Skyline’s distinctly industrial feel provides new challenges in somewhat familiar, but occasionally confined spaces.

Castle Map Pack (April release timeframe)

• Maps: Daybreak, Outcast, Perdition
• Description: Daybreak is set in a military facility against the backdrop of an idyllic mountain range, while Outcast plunges you into the warrens, canyons and arches of an alien edifice, and Perdition takes players into the heart of an urban sprawl, with tactical speed and situational awareness its key features.

The Microsoft Xbox Live Enforcement Team has been sending out permaban notifications to offenders, citing “pre-release title play” as the reason.

Also, when Microsoft says permanent it means permanent: “Your Xbox LIVE privileges will not be reinstated.”

Patience is a virtue, folks. Don’t go online with Halo 4!

“Number of missions has no bearing on the length of the campaign,” 343 Industries franchise development director Frank O’Connor wrote on NeoGAF. “It’s a Halo sized campaign. PLUS [Spartan Ops] etc.”

Designer David Ellis added: “[Spartan Ops] season alone is longer than [Halo 3: ODST],” he claimed. “Spartan Ops and Campaign are completely separate teams. As Frank mentioned earlier, the main campaign is substantial and will compare favourably with previous entries in the series.”

Rest easy, folks. The game’s out exclusively on Xbox 360 on November 6th.

“343 Industries is looking for an experienced graphics developer to help create the current and next generation of game visuals in the Halo universe,” reads a job ad posted on Microsoft’s career website.

“Work on one of the most exciting and creative properties in the industry,” it continues.

“Work with the incredible 343 team to help drive the future of Halo.

We are looking for an experienced graphics developer to help us deliver cutting edge graphics technologies for AAA experiences. Candidates should understand and have experience with how to bring great graphics to life.”

For added confirmation that 343 Industries is already thinking next-gen, the job ad later says that “DX11 experience is a plus”.

DirectX 11 is heavily-rumoured to be the graphical foundation on which the next-generation Xbox is being built.

Thanks, Videogamer.

The Full Quencher:

• Exclusive design: Limited-edition, one-of-a-kind console was custom designed by the Halo 4 developer, 343 Industries, and Xbox 360.

• Two custom Halo 4 wireless controllers: High-performance controllers boast a range of up to 30 feet and come with a rotating D-pad and blue LED lights.

• Halo 4 Standard Edition game: Begin the Halo Reclaimer saga right out of the box.

• Exclusive sounds: Hear actual Halo 4 in-game sound effects when console is turned on and when the eject button is pushed.

• Largest hard drive available: The 320-GB hard drive offers more space for game add-ons and downloadable content, and more memory to store all of your entertainment.

• Custom downloadable content: Receive a code to download Halo 4 content from Xbox LIVE, including unique armor skin, unique weapon skin, unique emblem, matching avatar armor, and unique avatar prop.

• Black Xbox 360 headset: Chat with friends on Xbox LIVE, or team up and jump in with multiplayer gameplay.

Halo 4 sees a worldwide release on November 6th exclusively for Xbox 360. Check out Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn’s full length trailer here.