- Xbox’s decision to pull the Halo trailer from State of Play reportedly harmed its relationship with Sony.
- The Halo Campaign Evolved trailer was originally supposed to appear last week at the Sony event.
- The Xbox boss also seemingly cancelled the PS5 port of the new Gears of War game.
Xbox is finally thinking long-term and making drastic decisions to secure the platform’s future. The brand is rethinking its approach to exclusives, having already confirmed that Gears of War: E-Day and Clockwork Revolution will only target an Xbox launch.
These shifts are already possibly straining its relationship with Sony. A notable industry insider now corroborates earlier rumors that Halo Campaign Evolved was originally supposed to be shown at State of Play last week, but Xbox decided against it.
Why it matters: Xbox recognizes that Halo is one of its signature franchises, and showing the upcoming remake at SoP might have done irreparable harm to the brand’s already damaged reputation.
In a new Bloomberg report, Jason Schreier clarifies that the new Xbox leadership pulled the Halo remake trailer to show it in the Xbox Games Showcase instead. His sources claimed that this move might have potentially damaged the relationship between the two companies.
The Halo remake is one of the most anticipated entries, and suddenly pulling it out left a large hole in the State of Play that Sony might have failed to fill in time with another substitute.
Therefore, the anger on Sony’s end seems justified, as many gamers complained that this State of Play had a lacking portfolio. Perhaps the showing of the Halo remake could have made a night-and-day difference in its reception.
The same report also mentions that Asha Sharma also cancelled the Gears of War PS5 port that was in the final stage of development. Regardless, the Halo remake is still set for a PS5 launch on July 28, 2025.
On a side note, Xbox saw a measly 3% profit for last year despite the heavy multiplatform push, confirming that the strategy might have done more harm than good for the brand.
Do you think Xbox deciding against showing the Halo Campaign Evolved trailer in State of Play will have a long-lasting effect on its relationship with Sony? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below, or join the discussion on the Tech4Gamers forum.
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Shameer Sarfaraz has previously worked for eXputer as a Senior News Writer for several years. Now with Tech4Gamers, he loves to devotedly keep up with the latest gaming and entertainment industries. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science and years of experience reporting on games. Besides his passion for breaking news stories, Shahmeer loves spending his leisure time farming away in Stardew Valley. VGC, IGN, GameSpot, Game Rant, TheGamer, GamingBolt, The Verge, NME, Metro, Dot Esports, GameByte, Kotaku Australia, PC Gamer, and more have cited his articles.
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