In-Depth: Why Halo’s Multiplayer Almost Didn’t Make It

[We split out the other half of the recent Hardy LeBel interview about Far Cry 2 because Chris Remo discovered the designer was the original multiplayer guru behind Halo’s multi-person modes - and that they almost got cut in development! Possibly the first time this story has been told in public, we think.]
One could argue that the multiplayer component in Bungie’s original Halo: Combat Evolved single-handedly made Microsoft’s Xbox a staple in college dorms nationwide, giving the company’s fledgling console a foothold.
But when Microsoft acquired Bungie, at the time a veteran PC and Mac developer, and repositioned Halo as a flagship Xbox title, its multiplayer mode was almost axed in the interest of expediency and cost-saving — a move that may have altered Microsoft’s early status in the hardware race.
Gamasutra recently caught up with multiplayer designer Hardy LeBel, half of the two-man team that brought the mode back […]

Original post by editors@gamesetwatch.com (Simon Carless) and software by Elliott Back