Xbox's Phil Spencer Wants Halo Season 2 To Meet The High Bar Set By HBO's TLOU

Video game adaptations have long struggled in the eyes of general audiences. Besides a few outliers, most television shows and movies that take their inspiration from games don't really make a lasting positive impression. However, this fact is slowly changing with the critical success of shows like "Arcane" and "The Last of Us." Luckily, it seems as if some believe that a rising cinematic tide lifts all entertainment properties. Xbox's Phil Spencer sees HBO's "The Last of Us" as the new gold standard when it comes to video game adaptations.

During an interview with IGN, Spencer was asked if "The Last of Us" will affect the upcoming Season 2 of "Halo," and he replied that it most assuredly is. Spencer then explained that seeing the vaunted "The Last of Us" beautifully adapted by its original creator is a huge benchmark for the community, adding, "I want the best for everything that we work on, 'Halo' television series included. I think there's some differences there, but I don't think that the point of the question of, 'Hey, 'Last of Us' is out there, setting an incredibly high bar. Should we all aspire to reach that same bar with the work that we do in television?' Absolutely."

Phil Spencer continued, "I could say the same thing in video games. Every time I play a great game from somebody, it inspires us to do the best work that we can, to hope that next time we show up, we're showing up with our best creative, our best ideas, and finding people who either love watching, in the case of the Halo television show, or playing, in the case of things like Hi-Fi Rush and the games that are coming out this year. We're always getting inspired by the work around us, absolutely."

This statement makes it sound like Spencer and other creatives involved with the "Halo" television series are definitely inspired by the overwhelming success of "The Last of Us." Although "Halo" was a decent enough win, with Rotten Tomatoes noting that the first season of "Halo" has a 70% critic score, "The Last of Us" proved that video game adaptations can be a genuine hit, with that same website giving "The Last of Us" a 96% critic score. However, it is important to realize that the "Halo" video game franchise centers around a combat-focused shooter, while "The Last of Us" video games are narrative-driven. In other words, "The Last of Us" show has much more to work with, but that hasn't stopped Spencer from believing "Halo" can achieve the same kind of critical response in Season 2.