OXM in the UK chatted to Halo franchise director, Frank O'Connor, about what's in store for Microsoft's flagship Xbox franchise post-Bungie departure.

"Nothing to announce right now," he said of what's next for the series. "But I can tell you we're not working on any side stories as games at the moment. There'll certainly be more Halo fiction entering the universe, but we've no new games to announce right now."

While 343 Industries are taking over as Halo curators for the foreseeable future, Reach fans can still expect a level of support from Bungie in regards to Bungie.net and DLC, despite their departure to Activision.

"Bungie's committed to supporting Halo: Reach for the foreseeable future - and the studio will be doing this for a whole bunch of reasons," O'Connor revealed. "Not least of which are gratitude and fondness for the franchise. It's signed up to build at least three new maps, as it revealed not too long ago, but you can bet that it'll continue to support the community it's been joined at the hip with for such a long time now."

And in regards to what, specifically, 343 Industrie's role is in looking after Halo, O'Connor coyly explains that they're "charged with the support, upkeep, maintenance and health of the Halo franchise", and that will range from "publishing Halo: Reach, to supporting and nurturing DLC to, well, the sky's the limit".

O'Connor answers more on the Halo universe, including talking about what's in store for the series' 10th Anniversary this year. Just hit the OXM link above for the full interview.