Microsoft has confirmed that Halo developer 343 Industries has been renamed Halo Studios, with “multiple” new games in the works.
The announcement happened Sunday (October 6) during the Halo World Championship tournament, with the newly christened Halo Studios also showing a video of what it had been working on.
The six-minute New Dawn video features a number of Halo-inspired locations, created using advanced game engine Unreal 5, as well as interviews with senior developers. “I think fans are going to be excited about the future of Halo because of the possibilities that are afforded us by using Unreal,” explained lead animator Marcellis Wentz.
2021’s Halo Infinite was developed using 343’s own Slipspace Engine, which reportedly caused a number of delays. “We’re entering the next chapter of the franchise and changing the recipe for how we make Halo games,” reads a statement from Halo Studios, who also confirmed “multiple Unreal-engine projects [are] in development”.
However, it might be a while before fans get to hear about them. “One of the things I really wanted to get away from was the continued teasing out of possibilities and ‘must-haves’. We should do more and say less,” said studio head Pierre Hintze (via VGC). “For me, I really think it is important that we continue the posture which we have right now when it comes to our franchise – the level of humility, the level of servitude towards Halo fans.”
“We should talk about things when we have things to talk about, at scale. Today, it’s the first step – we want to explain our plans to Halo fans, and attract new, passionate developers to our team. The next step will be talking about the games themselves,” he added.
Earlier this year it was confirmed that Paramount’s Halo TV series had been cancelled after two seasons. The project was first announced in 2013, but only made it to air in 2022. According to reports, Xbox and 343 Industries were trying to get the show picked up by another platform. “We remain committed to broadening the universe in different ways in the future,” 343 Industries said in a statement, but it isn’t clear if that’s still the case following the rebrand.
In other news, Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6 has announced details of a contest where one fan can win £100K to help them buy a house.
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