The renowned Halo franchise is undergoing a major transformation as 343 Industries rebrands to Halo Studios.
The next Halo games will be made in Unreal Engine 5. pic.twitter.com/nqTmsvVvcq
— Geoff Keighley (@geoffkeighley) October 6, 2024
The studio announced it is shifting development to Unreal Engine 5, marking a significant departure from its proprietary Slipspace Engine used for Halo Infinite. Studio Head Pierre Hintze said, “If you really break it down, there have been two very distinct chapters.
Chapter 1 – Bungie. Chapter 2 – 343 Industries. Now, I think we have an audience that is hungry for more.
The rumors were true. Halo is moving to Unreal Engine 5. Slipspace is no more. 343 (the name) is no more as well. Now it's Halo Studios.
There's some really nice test footage in here from their Project Foundry tech test. Take a look! https://t.co/1TkLEXDG5n
— Ryan McCaffrey (@DMC_Ryan) October 7, 2024
We’re not just going to try to improve the efficiency of development but change the recipe of games. So, we start a new chapter today.”
A heroic salute to the 2024 Halo World Champions—@Spacestation the ultimate warriors of the arena 🫡🏆 #HaloWC pic.twitter.com/2DqcWgeFZ7
— Halo (@Halo) October 7, 2024
The move to Unreal Engine 5 is driven by evolving gamer expectations.
A New Dawn.
We're entering the next chapter of the franchise and changing the recipe for how we make Halo games. Go behind the scenes with Project Foundry to explore the creative potential of Halo in @UnrealEngine 5.
🎥 https://t.co/XR6lPexrse pic.twitter.com/hgUQvpOwtg
— Halo (@Halo) October 6, 2024
“We believe that the consumption habits of gamers have changed – the expectations of how fast their content is available,” Hintze explained.
On Halo Infinite, we were developing a tech stack that was supposed to set us up for the future.
Halo Studios COO Elizabeth van Wyck added, “The way we made Halo games before doesn’t necessarily work as well for the way we want to make games for the future. So part of the conversation was about how we help the team focus on making games, versus making the tools and the engines.”
Art Director Chris Matthews noted that some components of Slipspace are almost 25 years old.
Halo Studios’ transformative new chapter
Although 343 were developing it continuously, there are aspects of Unreal that Epic has been developing for some time, which are unavailable to us in Slipspace – and would require huge amounts of time and resources to replicate,” he said. The studio experimented with Unreal Engine 5 through Project Foundry. Van Wyck explained, “We needed to pause and assess what our capability is so we know we’re on the right path.
We’ve been intentionally quiet up to this point, but today is about sharing where we are and what our priorities are as a studio.”
Hintze stated, “It’s fair to say that our intent is that the majority of what we showcased in Foundry will be in projects we are building or future projects.
Van Wyck emphasized that future Halo games will still feel like Halo with familiar combat, weapons, and vehicles. I think it’s well known that switching engines has been a topic at the studio for a long time. When Unreal Engine 5 was released, we felt we could make Halo games that respect the true soul of Halo while delivering on the scale and ambition of content that players want.”
Halo Studios isn’t unveiling their upcoming games at this moment, and a new Halo game isn’t imminent.
Halo Infinite will continue to be supported with more updates. Leadership at Halo Studios has reorganized the structure to give teams exactly what they need. At the end of the day, if we build the games that our players want to play, that’s how we’ll be successful,” said van Wyck.
Hintze concluded, “We consider this as a new chapter with a singular focus. Everyone here is dedicated to making the best possible games.”
Noah Nguyen is a multi-talented developer who brings a unique perspective to his craft. Initially a creative writing professor, he turned to Dev work for the ability to work remotely. He now lives in Seattle, spending time hiking and drinking craft beer with his fiancee.
