Who says it won't happen eventually? They still have the rights. What I'm thinking is that they may wait for the next gen of consoles.
Halo Wars is an exception. I'm pretty sure, (someone feel free to fact check me on this), that most other console RTS games have done poorly, including Tom Clancy's Endwar and the command and conquer games. Maybe I'm incredibly wrong and they are doing well, but my impression was that they didn't have much online support.
Halo Wars succeeded for two reasons.
1) It belongs to the Halo franchise and therefore received immediate attention and support.
2) (And more importantly) It striped down the RTS gameplay so that it worked smoothly on CONSOLES. Not to sound like a compy fanboy (I'm not. Specifically because I'd much rather shell out 400 to 500 dollars every five years than spend THOUSANDS on a computer which requires constant maintenance) but a mouse and keyboard is a LOT better interface for a strategy game than a controller.
They succeeded because they simplified the experience, but still gave it enough depth. Sure, it's no Starcraft. But that's like saying a game of Risk is no CIV V. No **** Sherlock. I have Starcraft II on my computer and I don't play it. Partly because my computer is too crapy to function online, but mostly because the game has so much depth that I don't have the time to master it. Neither do my friends. (I'm a senior and I have TWO THESES. OH GOD. TWO THESES. SO.... MUCH.... WRITING.){Why do you think I'm posting in this forum: PROCRASTINATION!}
Halo Wars is great because it is like chess. The rules are fairly simple, but the strategy has emergent complexity. Just like no two games of chess are the same, no two games of HW are the same. But the game is simple enough to shift production and adapt on the fly, which is a lot harder to do in Starcraft.
Ultimately I think they might wait off until they have a way to produce another very polished experience, with perhaps a little more depth.
Halo Wars proved that there is a market for console RTS games, why abandon a successful franchise? A console version of StarCraft or WarCraft would be a horrendous abomination.
Well... unless they added keyboards and mice to the next gen xbox, but then it would essentially be a computer game... on a much more standardized, reliable, and cheap machine.
Come to think of it, if MS wanted to, it could make the next gen Xbox, (in addition to being a standard console platform), an essentially cheap and reliable platform for computer games for those who don't want to bother with expensive computers. After all, THEY ARE MICROSOFT. AND THEY HAVE BEEN SAYING THAT THEY WANT THE XBOX TO OPERATE MORE LIKE A COMPUTER.
If they made it affordable, I would buy the mouse and keyboard in order to play computer games on my Xbox. I feel like I miss out because of my crappy compy. Plus I would be able to play on Xbox live, which is bound to be superior to almost all other computer servers.
They could package it as the "Xbox Hybrid" service. You put a windows operating system capable of playing compy games on the xbox, and then offer people an option to pay extra for Xbox live on their computer games.
There. How's that for Pie-In-The-Sky thinking? The next Halo wars could use a mouse and keyboard on Xbox-live.
And pigs will fly. Republicans will agree to health care reform. There will be peace in the middle east. Apple will make the iPhone available on any coverage you want, with a monthly service rate of five dollars. Matt Groening will make more shows like Futurama. There will be decisions on *** marriage, abortion, and marijuana that everyone agrees with. And Bungie will sign a contract with Microsoft to make 10 more Halo games.
What is happiness but the feeling of power increasing, and obstacles being overcome? -Nietzsche