Halo is reportedly staying with 343 Industries, but the direction of the franchise is unclear amid layoffs and a pivot from Halo’s Slipspace engine.
so report According to Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, with a studio leadership overhaul, mass layoffs, and other big changes, 343 is essentially pushing the reset button for the franchise. The report also claims that at least 95 people were fired from 343 as part of mass layoffs at Microsoft this month, with 343 claiming he wasn’t working on new missions in the Halo Infinite story last year.
After dismissal rumor Claims began to circulate that Microsoft could completely hand off Halo development to another studio. According to today’s report, Halo has maintained its status quo despite concerns over the studio’s ability to develop new games for Halo after its massive hit with staff.
The report is consistent with 343’s statement that “Halo and Master Chief will live on,” with Phil Spencer saying 343 will remain “very important” to Halo’s success. According to reports, Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty assures 343 staff remain in charge despite the studio working with outside partners.
Big changes await Halo
However, it looks like big changes are still in store for the franchise. So Halo is said to controversially leave his Slipspace engine behind and pivot to Unreal Engine. Development challenges posed by Slipspace have reportedly hampered his two nearly completed Infinite multiplayer modes, Extraction and Assault.
The engine swap reports come after years of rumors surrounding 343, Slipspace, and Unreal Engine. The pivot will reportedly start with a long-rumored Halo project codenamed Tatanka. The game is being co-developed with 343 with a certain affinity, and while it started out as a Halo battle his royale, the game could evolve in a different direction. Future Halo games will also consider using Unreal Engine.
343 has not prepared additional story content for Halo Infinite’s campaign, the report claims. Rather, the developer worked on an Unreal Engine prototype last year to pitch the idea for a new Halo game. 343 hasn’t been actively working on new story content, and many of the developers working on these projects have been laid off this month.
After a strong initial reception of Infinite Fresh Campaign When Free-to-play multiplayer, things got worse.the fans rebelled Infinite’s controversial multiplayer progression system, the long-awaited feature was significantly delayed, which worsened public opinion towards the game. For now, Halo players are waiting for the start of Season 3: Echoes this March.
For more on Xbox and Halo, check out IGN’s recent interview with Xbox’s Phil Spencer.
Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN covering video game and entertainment news. He has over 6 years of experience in the games industry and has bylines for IGN, Nintendo Wire, Switch Player Magazine and Lifewire. Find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.
