I hate being a Halo Fan

October 27th, 2025

Starting off with a such a strong title, sure, but let's just say that recent events have me crash out. I do apologize for the second blog in a row being a rant. I do want to write something more positive in the future, but I needed to get this subject off of my chest.

It started with the recent reveal of the Halo CE remake, Halo: Campaign Evolved. While the reception from the wider gaming audience has been warm to it, it has the Halo fanbase divided. You have one large camp of Halo fans vocal against it, usually over a variety of nitpicks, to the point of doomer posting the end of the franchise, and you have everyone else ranging from cautious optimism to genuine excitement. I have my own personal nitpicks about the remake, but I am otherwise optimistic (I especially love the cutscenes). I know there is some things to be constructive about, but knowing Halo Studios, they'll be flight testing the game for feedback. Anyways. so of course the fans start attacking each other over it online. More-so seeing the general hostility from the other camp, no shocker. Though the thing that really hits me is that it's just so widespread it is. Twitter, Bsky, the Knockout forums, 4chan (lol), and I dare not look at Steam Community. It's like some anger, hate filled neuron just activated. I shouldn't be shocked it's because of the former 343 Industries track record with the franchise. Halo 4 being a mixed bag, Halo 5's campaign being shit (and Warzone being P2W), Halo Infinite having a lukewarm campaign, but a terrible multiplayer launch, and ofc the original 2014 launch of MCC. But it was pointed out that a lot of 343's former leadership left, post-Infinite. I'd argue that Halo Studios should be given a chance to prove themselves, even with starting off something safe with a Halo CE remake. Slipspace Engine was a disaster, and a lot of employees have been itching to touch the Unreal Engine more. But of course, asking the Halo fandom to give a chance is not exactly easy. A part of me knows better to not blame them for the cynicism, but then again, it gets very tiring.

Speaking of which, some in the modding community have shared their cynicism with the remake, but one in particular stands out because of the unfortunate aftermath. Kashiiera, creator of the Halo MCC mod, Halo 3: Combat Evolved, wasn't all too kind with the remake on Twitter. Unfortunately, because it's Twitter, her criticism opened herself to being a target. I can't recall what was specifically said, since the media posts made by her are now taken down. Not that it matters because hot takes over a video game shouldn't warrant harassment of any kind. It doesn't help that Kashiiera was previously a target of transphobia before in the past. Sadly, Kashiiera made a more recent exit from the community since her take. The mod on Steam was taken down, she deactivated her socials, and her YouTube channel is now empty, at least as of typing this. But of course, the shit flow doesn't stop there. Someone re-uploads Kashiiera's mod with included transphobic bile, and the irony is not lost on me that the re-uploader in question has a profile pic of Trixie from MLP. As I ranted before, the Brony fandom has a Nazi problem. At least, I take some cold comfort knowing that there's more in the Halo scene willing to call out bigotry, even if we're at each other's throats over the remake.

Oh, but don't you worry, it gets way worse. On top of everything that's been happening, the Trump Administration took it upon themselves to take advantage of a shitty Gamestop meme posting about the console wars ending. The White House Twitter account apparently retweets Gamestop's meme with AI slop, and then DHS posts a Halo screenshot promoting ICE. I'm not even going to dignify linking back any of this because I'd rather not bring any direct attention to the media posts in question. As for the Gamestop retweet, I wouldn't be surprised if this was another attempt to play around with the Stock Market, as the Trump Administration had done before this year. I try not to be vocal about politics, but it's hard not to when the dumbest shit becomes reality. As PhillyD once said, "You may not fuck with Politics, but Politics will fuck with you." What isn't helping is the fact that Microsoft is refusing to comment about all of this. Another corporation too scared to speak out against Fascism, I know, shocker. /s

The whole situation has left me with an extremely sour taste in my mouth. I am just exhausted of the doom posting, tired of the chuds, and just want to enjoy something. You'd think this would be a time to celebrate something good, especially since it's getting harder to come by any good news, these days. I hate being a Halo fan, and that sucks.