Nine years ago, back in 2001, Microsoft and Bungie released an Xbox game titled Halo: Combat Evolved. That wasn’t always the game’s title, though. According to Halo designer Jaime Grisemer, Microsoft forced the Combat Evolved subtitle into the game.

“Oh, man… the subtitle,” Griesemer told Edge Magazine. “At the time, Microsoft marketing thought Halo was not a good name for a video game brand. It wasn’t descriptive like all the military games we were competing with.”

Bungie disagreed. “We told them Halo was the name,” Greisemer said.

“The compromise was they could add a subtitle. Everyone at Bungie hated it. But it turned out to be a very sticky label and has now entered the gaming lexicon to the point where articles that have nothing to do with Halo get titles like ‘Skateboarding Evolved’. So I guess in hindsight it was a good compromise.”

Hopefully the developer’s latest Halo: Reach was agreed upon equally on both sides.

Thanks, CVG.