A Halo 2 remake would require “fantastic” multiplayer, says Microsoft Game Studios boss

If there were a Halo 2 remake, “the multiplayer would have to be fantastic,” according to Microsoft Studios boss Phil Spencer.

The comments come following rumors that a Halo 2 Anniversary, similar to Xbox 360‘s Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, is in development for Xbox One.

“In this fictitious world where that game existed,” he told IGN, smiling, “it’s an easy answer: it has to be just the multiplayer experience that we all found in that first Halo 2 game. If you think about what happened in the franchise and what were the hallmark moments – when did duel wielding come in, when did another playable character that wasn’t Master Chief come in?

“All the things that you and I know about the evolution of the franchise, if you’re going to say one thing about Halo 2, you’re going to talk about real multiplayer. I think you just have to nail that in just such a fundamentally core way. Frankly [we’d have to do it] probably better than we did with Halo 1 Anniversary. I thought the multiplayer in Halo 1 Anniversary was good, but Halo 1 never had multiplayer in the truest sense, so it always was going to be something different.”

The remake, if an actual thing, is rumored to be due out this November.