Major changes are coming for Halo and 343 Industries, the studio in charge of the franchise. It has been announced that the studio is rebranding itself, and going forward, will be known as Halo Studios, with the franchise supposedly preparing to move ahead into its next era.
“If you really break Halo down, there have been two very distinct chapters,” says studio head Pierre Hintze. “Chapter 1 – Bungie. Chapter 2 – 343 Industries. Now, I think we have an audience which is hungry for more. So we’re not just going to try improve the efficiency of development, but change the recipe of how we make Halo games. So, we start a new chapter today.”
So what exactly does the rebranding of the studio entail, other than just a different name? Well, in line with Halo Studios’ aforementioned goal of recalibrating how it develops content, as prior reports have alleged, the studio is dropping its proprietary Slipspace Engine, which is what Halo Infinite was developed on. Instead, all future games will be developed on Unreal Engine 5.
Halo Studios has spent the last couple of years working on Project Foundry, an expansive tech demo that will serve as the foundation for Halo’s future on Unreal Engine 5, while the developer is currently also working on multiple new Halo titles.
