Halo planned out for next six years

Speaking to USA Today, Frank O'Connor, creative director for Microsoft's Halo division 343 Industries, has revealed plans are in place which define what is coming in the Halo franchise for at least the next six years.

"We do have a plan that goes out at least six years," said O'Connor. "Eventually, it will become very apparent that there is a plan for the way the canon all ties together and the way the comic books and the novels all tie together."

What exactly is in store isn't fully known. The only game currently on the horizon is Halo: Reach, a prequel to the first Halo game. O'Connor says the game "is a chronological prequel but it is not a prequel in the directions the Star Wars prequels were to the (original) movies."

"It will cover events in and around the planet Reach."

A Halo movie has also been on the cards for several years now, although the project is currently on hold. O'Connor says it's all about ensuring they "pick the right time and the right partner".

But what of Master Chief, the iconic soldier who helped make the franchise so popular in the first place. O'Connor believes he will return.

"I think that (his) fate, Cortana's fate and the identity of that giant, dark planet at the ending (on the game's hardest skill level) — that's a spoiler — are probably big mysteries that would be irritating if they were just cliffhangers," said O'Connor.