Halo Wars just hit shelves this past Friday, but already there are more Halo developments under way.

Halo 3: ODST is a standalone expansion for Halo 3 that sees players stepping into the shoes of a UNSC Orbital Drop Shock Trooper (ODST) rather than Master Chief. The game is set in New Mombasa and takes place just after Halo 2 and before the events that lead up to Halo 3, tasking players with finding out what happened to the ODST’s missing teammates.

USA Today recently sat down with Halo franchise development director Frank O’ Conner who says that Halo 3: ODST “is significantly more than an add-on. It’s a lot of game. You play the game through the point of view of an ODST. They are dropped into combat from orbit.”

“They have a rivalry with the Spartans that is well known to the fans of the fiction. We finally let you into their boots as it were. …It’s kind of a detective story in a way. But it is much more action-packed than that” O’ Conner continued.

We know that a lot of Halo fans are wondering if Master Chief will make an appearance in Halo 3: ODST…what does O’ Conner think about this possibility? He commented “I doubt we have seen the last of Master Chief.”

There you have it then…the big chief could be back.