HALO Series Producer Explains Why Cortana Was Redesigned

When Cortana was first revealed in one of the early trailers for Paramount+’s Halo series, a lot of fans were caught off guard by the new look of the character. It’s definitely a departure from the games, and it was a bit jarring. Fans of the game franchise took to social media to express dislike for the character’s redesign.

Well, in a recent interview, Kiki Wolfkill, 343 Industries' studio head of transmedia and Halo executive producer, explained that the new design for Cartona is a natural step forward for many of the same reasons that the in-game models changed. She told GamesRadar+:

"It's so funny, because we change her design for every game. And a lot of that is driven by technology. A lot of the design changes as we progress[ed] through the game generations was because we had access to better graphics, technology, more pixels, and more effects. And so it's always been about adapting Cortana to the environment. In this situation, it's so very different from the games in that she has to feel real. And by that, I don't mean feel like a real human. She has to feel like a real AI, a real hologram, and be a character that real people are acting against... That was really the impetus in designing her – how do we make her feel very tangible in this Halo world?"

I don’t know, I’m still not sold on the new Cortana design. They should have stuck closer to the aesthetic of the design of the character in the games. What do you think about the redesign of Cortana and the explanation given as to why the change was so drastic?