343 Industries is dead: Multiple Halo games in development using Unreal Engine 5 under care of new Halo Studios
Halo is changing hands once again. But this time, the change is more like an evolution rather than a completely new studio as we saw with the move from Bungie to 343 Industries. 343 Industries has now been rebranded as “Halo Studios”. This rebrand also comes with a major shift in technology.
For the past 23 years, Halo has relied on a proprietary engine developed and maintained first by Bungie as “blam!” and later by 343 Industries. 343 Industries developed a new engine named “Slipspace” exclusively for Halo Infinite. However, Slipspace uses large parts of the engine of yesteryear and thus carries a chunk of tech baggage that is holding the game back. Moving forward, Halo Studios has announced that all future games will be built using Unreal Engine 5. Yes, “games”, as Halo Studio has multiple different projects in the works.
Halo moving to UE5 was desperately needed
One of the key reasons for the move to UE5 is to separate the development of the engine and the Halo games. According to Halo Studios head Pierre Hintze, 343 Industries was “ developing a tech stack that was supposed to set us up for the future, and games at the same time.” Logically, developing and maintaining a proprietary in-house engine takes a lot of resources. So, the move to use a third-party engine that is technologically superior and has a wider talent pool to hire from will save the studio a lot of time.
Interestingly, to familiarize themselves with the new engine and research what Halo might look like in UE5, Halo Studios developed Project Foundry (footage linked below).
The team clarifies that Project Foundry is neither a new Halo game nor a tech demo. Rather, it is what future Halo games are “expected” to look like. We have to admit, compared to Halo Infinite, Project Foundry looks truly next-gen with stunning graphics and landscapes.
Fortunately, the studio’s Art Director, Chris Matthews, understands that a Halo game also needs to play like a Halo game with the physics, combat, and movement that players have come to expect. Matthews states that the studio is “obsessed” about the “spirit of Halo” which is “ the lore. It’s the physics. Playing as the Chief, you’re this huge tank of a soldier – it’s the way that he moves, he feels.”
After 343 Industries’ failure, this feels like a new beginning
Even though it feels like Halo has failed to stay relevant in modern times, there is no denying that Halo is the flagship IP of Xbox. Every time a new Halo game gets announced, hype eventually builds up around the launch and people anticipate the title. We saw this with Halo Infinite where the multiplayer component of the game, at its peak, had more than 272,000 concurrent players.
So, Halo still occupies a special place in the hearts of fans who grew up with the franchise. Sadly, 343 Industries had failed to meet player expectations on numerous occasions and had made serious mistakes in its handling of the franchise.
With 343 Industries and much of the studio’s senior leadership gone, Halo Studios is effectively starting from a clean slate. Pierre Hintze calls Halo Studios “the start of a new chapter” in both the “efficiency of the development” and “how we make Halo games.”
Let’s hope Halo Studios carries the Mantle of Responsibility in a way that will satisfy both old and new players alike.
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