Halo Wars fan-passion saves stats

By Robert Purchese Published 9 December, 2010

Microsoft has a change of heart.

Microsoft has abolished plans to wipe away the Halo Wars online statistics after a passionate response from gamers.

"After seeing the reaction and passion from Halo Wars fans as well as Halo FPS fans who were concerned about the future of other Halo titles, we determined that the previously stated plan of action was not in line with our intended plan of loyal support for Halo' games,' said Microsoft in a statement to IGN.

The loss of online statistics was going to be collateral for Halo Wars moving under the Halo Waypoint umbrella. Forums will still be merged, MS clarified, "But other than that, nothing changes."

"If and when the location of accessing your stats changes, we will let you know at that point in time," MS promised.

Halo Wars, made by Age of Empire developer Ensemble, was released at the start of 2009. It was supposed to do for RTS games what Halo did for the FPS - bring the genre natively to console. That didn't work out, and Ensemble was shut down soon after, the staff force eventually reforming into three entities: Robot Entertainment to oversee Halo Wars, Bonfire Studios and Windstorm Studios.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds. @Clert on Twitter.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (14) Latest comment 1 year ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • RedSparrows #1 1 year ago

    I love Halo Wars, despite its ultimately relatively shallow toolset.

  • cianchristopher #2 1 year ago

    That's ridiculous! First they say the it's necessary to reset that stats in order to move Halo Wars under the Halo Waypoint umbrella, now they say that that they're still going ahead with the move, but the stats don't need to be reset at all.

    Nice going, Microsoft! You guys are lucky most of us videogame fans are complete idiots, aren't ya?

  • Toothball #3 1 year ago

    Numbers have become a powerful tool in many games these days. It seems gamers can't get enough of seeing numbers increase in any context. The prospect of losing numbers is one that strikes fear into the hearts of many, including myself.

    You can better prepare yourself for this sort of thing by deleting numbers yourself. Delete a character or a save file or something, or quit that MMO at last. The pain is sharp but fleeting, and after a while you'll feel better for it.

  • menage #4 1 year ago

    @cian

    So it's ridiculous that they actually listened to the fanbase now?

    You may have been right about the initial lfaw in the logic but now it's just being angry for angry sakes I suppose. People are never satisfied.

  • kangarootoo #5 1 year ago

    "You guys are lucky most of us videogame fans are complete idiots, aren't ya?"

    You said it.

  • dagas #6 1 year ago

    I had no idea people cared about Halo Wars. I just bought it because I buy anything Halo including spin-off games and books. It was an okay RTS, but nothing like the main series in polish and quality.

  • tachometer #7 1 year ago

    I reckon they planned on doing this the whole time

  • coolbritannia #8 1 year ago

    Halo Wars is brilliant, great multiplayer. As for this, common sense prevailed.

  • Marquisdesade #9 1 year ago

    Toothball, numbers have always been of importance to gamers, just think back to arcade days and games such as Pac Man and Space Invaders that were all about that high score.

  • Toothball #10 1 year ago

    @Marquisdesade

    Oh yeah definitely, although for a time those were limited to arcades. Gaming at home was a bit safer in the days before saving was an option, as your numbers were reset every time you switched off. Even when games started saving your numbers, the ability to show them off to other people online has really compounded the effect.

    Probably most people see them as proof of their time and effort, and as a result clearing stats or high score tables makes it feel like all that time was wasted. In reality it mostly was anyway, and if the numbers weren't there to begin with I expect many wouldn't care that they'd spent hours and days playing games that weren't recorded.

  • M1chl #11 1 year ago

    dagas: Yeah ist actually way better than any other Halo FPS : )

  • StooMonster #12 1 year ago

    Oh I might give it a go now, swear I saw it for £6 (new) an Amazon partners the other day.

  • uzivatel #13 1 year ago

    @mad-hacker: good thing they remembered

  • Centrifugal #14 1 year ago

    I'm proud to say that I'm one of those fans who vehemently protested on the Halo Wars forums.

    Very glad to see that the stats will be staying.