Halo Devs Once Pitched ODST Game Similar to Helldivers But Were Denied

We almost got a Halo Helldivers game, but it just wasn't right for Microsoft.
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Halo 3 Odst Blowing Up Aliens
Image: 343 Industries

Former Halo developers revealed a game concept similar to the cooperative shooter Helldivers. This unmade title would have featured the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers (ODSTs) from the Halo universe, known for their tactical operations and drop pod deployments.

According to former 343 Industries designer Kevin Schmitt, there were a lot of ideas for an ODST-themed game while he was there, such as “galaxy-spanning” and “more intimate” concepts. He mentioned that several things, like timing and how the project would fit in, played a part in why these game ideas didn’t happen.

Details about the pitch are still limited, but it’s reported to have similarities with Helldivers. The guess is that you would do a lot of things that would have been done with Helldivers. To be honest, that makes sense, but it’s clear that Microsoft just wanted more Master Chief and the Spartans, not original stories from that universe.

The inspiration behind this concept isn’t confirmed, but Starship Troopers inspired Helldivers, so it may have been the same. ODSTs have not been the most popular in the Halo community, so we imagine this was also a deciding factor in saying no to 343 Industries. To be honest, the biggest hate they got for ODST was that it wasn’t like the other Halo games. Now they get hate for the same thing, but ODST was pretty good.

The saddest part is that this same thing keeps happening. Palworld is a great example of how stepping away from the established comfort zone would bring in a lot of happy customers. Helldivers strays from PvP (as we’ve reported) and goes for PvE with co-op. I honestly wish they’d leave Master Chief alone and give us more ODST-centered games.

Jorge A. Aguilar

Jorge A. Aguilar

Jorge A. Aguilar, also known as Aggy, is the current Assigning Editor.

He started his career as an esports, influencer, and streaming writer for Sportskeeda. He then moved to GFinity Esports to cover streaming, games, guides, and news before moving to the Social team where he ended his time as the Lead of Social Content.

He also worked a writer and editor for both Pro Game Guides and Dot Esports, and as a writer for PC Invasion, Attack of the Fanboy, and Android Police. Aggy is the former Managing Editor and Operations Overseer of N4G Unlocked and a former Gaming editor for WePC.

Throughout his time in the industry, he's trained over 100 writers, written thousands of articles on multiple sites, written more reviews than he cares to count, and edited tens of thousands of articles. He has also written some games published by Tales, some books, and a comic sold to Telus International.

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  1. Stone

    Did you mean that “Starship Troopers” inspired Helldivers? I think I reference Super Troopers before too, but realized that movie is about highway state troopers.

    Reply
    1. Jorge A. Aguilar

      I corrected that! Thank you =) Yes, Starship Troopers the book and the movie, I think that the humor of the movie was used a lot but I feel like a lot of the book was used too. It took the best parts of both in my opinion

      Reply