What would have happened if the original Halo never had multiplayer?

One of the biggest reasons the original Xbox did so well was because of the original Halo. The multiplayer mode in the game is arguably what made the Xbox succeed and brought in the audience that had been looking for another GoldenEye/Perfect Dark experience again.

So can you even imagine what the playing field would be like today had the multiplayer been cut from Halo? Well, it almost actually happened. Gamasutra’s Chris Remo caught up with Hardy LeBel, one-half of the two-man team that made sure multiplayer stayed in the game:

” … When we got bought by Microsoft, Alex Seropian and Jason Jones, who were the two principals of Bungie, came to me and [former Bungie engineer and animator] Michael Evans, and said, “Multiplayer is cut from Halo because we’re trying to make it really work on the console and we just don’t have the resources.”

But we threw a fit and were like, “No way! You can’t cut it! It’s just too cool!”

They said, “We were hoping you’d say that — because you two guys have to resurrect it.”

The original Halo was the biggest, and really only, draw for the original Xbox for awhile. Do you think the Xbox would have succeeded without Halo’s multiplayer? Would we have an Xbox 360 right now? Would Rooster Teeth be in business?