Halo 4 , which launched on Xbox 360 in November 2012, was originally pitched as a launch title for Xbox One. In this month's episode of IGN Unfiltered (see the full episode below), Ryan McCaffrey sat down with Bonnie Ross, head of 343 Industries, and discussed the history (and alternate histories) of the Halo franchise.

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When Ross originally pitched Halo 4, it was set to be a launch title for Xbox One, but when it was decided the game would launch as an "end of life-cycle" Xbox 360 title, a new plan was formed. Halo games take a minimum of three years to build, according to Ross, and moving Halo 4 away from the Xbox One release window created a gap in the launch portfolio of the new console.To close the gap in the Xbox One launch lineup, 343 decided to make a stand-alone remaster: Halo 2 Anniversary. The studio had already released Halo: CE Anniversary on Xbox 360, but with Halo 4 launching over a year prior to the Xbox One launch in North America (much longer in some other regions), 343 was asked to do more than remaster Halo 2.At this point, Ross and 343 went "back to the drawing board" to determine what Halo's presence should be on the nascent Xbox One. The first expansion to the Halo 2: Anniversary plan was adding the campaigns from the other Master Chief-focused Halo games, but this still wasn't the Master Chief Collection we eventually received. While each campaign would be playable, Halo 2 Anniversary would be the only available multiplayer suite.Before long, 343 decided to "do them all" and undertook the monumental task of recreating every single-player campaign and every multiplayer mode in the mainline Halo franchise. "We probably got a little bit too ambitious," said Ross. "We did a lot more than, maybe, we had time for... with a brand new console." The Master Chief Collection was, famously, plagued with issues at launch, which Ross said was "incredibly crushing" for a studio who had worked hard on the ambitious project which was intended "to be a love letter" for fans.For more insider interviews with the best, brightest, most fascinating minds in the games industry, be sure to check out the rest of the IGN Unfiltered catalog , which includes talks with Insomniac Founder and CEO Ted Price , Firewatch and Darksiders 3 voice actress Cissy Jones , and many more.

Brian Barnett writes news, features, and wiki guides for IGN. You can get your fix of Brian's antics on Twitter ( @Ribnax ) and Instagram ( @Ribnax ).