Cancelled Certain Affinity Halo game

"At some point, the nascent 343 group reached out to us at Certain Affinity, and I’m fairly certain it was at Frank’s bidding. They were interested in doing a Halo digital download game. So we pitched a bunch of ideas, we had some really cool ones—I still have one to this day that I’m dying to make—and we all locked onto one that we were super excited about. We got really close to putting a contract in place, and then the Halo Waypoint website came along and it had become a priority.
So, the other stuff we were thinking about doing got canned, and we ended up going on to Waypoint. I won’t lie, I was pretty bummed. But it did rekindle this relationship with Microsoft, and then we got pulled on to work on a multiplayer map pack for Reach."

— Max Hoberman, discussing the cancelled Certain Affinity project.

Around 2007-2009, game development studio Certain Affinity were in talks with 343 Industries to produce a Halo game. The game was intended by 343 Industries to be a digital download game, and Certain Affinity pitched a number of ideas including one that had multiple people "super excited". Ultimately, the contract was close to being in place to begin development, though fell through once the then-upcoming Halo Waypoint project became a larger priority. Although the project fell through, the negotiations allowed Certain Affinity to keep in contact with Microsoft, ultimately going on to produce Waypoint and the Defiant and Anniversary DLCs for Halo: Reach, alongside continued work on future Halo games.

Some of the ideas pitched by Certain Affinity were described by studio head Max Hoberman as "a little too out of left field, a little too casual", ultimately contributing to a more serious plan closer to existing Halo games. As of 2015, one of the ideas pitched for the Certain Affinity game project was something Hoberman was still "dying to make".