Now, a developer who worked on the project at Certain Affinity seems to have confirmed its cancellation, and offered some brief information on how it was shaping up.

Spotted by GameSpot, Mike Clopper – who was game director at Certain Affinity until his departure in March 2022 – wrote on his LinkedIn profile about his work on the battle royale Halo experience, which he wrote “could have been a game-changer for the franchise” prior to its cancellation. Clopper has since updated his LinkedIn profile, removing any mention of a battle royale mode.

“I led a large team of designers working on a canceled Battle Royale mode for Halo,” his profile read. “I believe this product could have been a game changer for the franchise. We loved playing it and working on it was a fantastic experience in spite of its cancelation.”

In spite of an undeniably turbulent last few years, fans of the Halo franchise do have plenty to look forward to. 343 Industries recently officially rebranded as Halo Studios, and announced that all future Halo titles would be developed on Unreal Engine going forward, hopefully enabling a more streamlined and efficient development pipeline. Multiple unannounced Halo titles are confirmed to be in the works.

CEO Max Hoberman announced in a recently published update that Certain Affinity is laying off 25 people, with the bulk of the job cuts impacting “the teams running our business operations.” As Hoberman explains it, this is down to in widespread reluctance among investors to fund new projects, and an “industry-wide slowdown” of funding for new co-development and support projects.

“There are multiple factors underlying this decision to do a layoff for the first time in our 17+ year history,” Hoberman wrote. “Most significant is an industry-wide slowdown in the funding of new lead and co-development projects and the reluctance of third-party investors to fund games or game companies. This has made it exceptionally difficult to sign new work or secure other forms of funding.

“Our current focus is on our team and the well-being of those most impacted, whom we are supporting with severance pay and benefits continuation. We are also making their vested awards under our Stock Equity Plan portable so they may benefit from the company’s success in the future.”

Certain Affinity has served as co-developer on a number of notable titles over the years, including multiple Halo and Call of Duty titles, DOOM, Left 4 Dead, and more.

In April 2022, it was announced that Certain Affinity had partnered with 343 Industries and Microsoft to “further evolve Halo Infinite in some new and exciting ways”. Reports claimed that the studio was working on a new battle royale experience, but earlier this year, it was claimed that the project had been cancelled.

Last year, Certain Affinity announced that it was working on an original first-person shooter codenamed Project Loro, while in February, Archetype Entertainment announced that the studio would serve as lead co-developer on its upcoming sci-fi RPG, Exodus.

Leaks claims in 2022 that Certain Affinity had partnered with Microsoft for an Xbox-exclusive Monster Hunter-inspired action RPG, though the status of that project is currently unknown.

In a new press release, the latter confirmed that Certain Affinity is working as a lead co-development partner (having been involved with the project since 2022). Founder and CEO Max Hoberman stated, “As one of the world’s premiere independent studios, we’ve worked on a huge variety of great games, but nothing quite like this exciting new sci-fi IP, Exodus. Our mission is to add value in development across the board and to complement their efforts in bringing this amazing storytelling experience to players around the world.”

Archetype founder James Ohlen said, “This game is introducing an extremely innovative and expansive world. We are creating a new universe that we hope will be the beginning of a decades-long narrative-driven adventure for gamers. I’ve known Max for a long time and was thrilled to partner with Certain Affinity on a project. With his support and the addition of his outstanding team, we’re excited to bring this new AAA sci-fi universe to life.”

VP, executive producer, and co-founder Chad Robertson added, “The value of our experienced teams joining forces adds a clear benefit to the project and ensures that in today’s competitive video game marketplace, Exodus will be an IP that stands apart in terms of quality, deep engagement, and value for gamers. We have enjoyed working with Certain Affinity and look forward to the unique opportunities that come from a deep partnership like this with such a veteran team.”

Exodus is coming to Xbox Series X/S, PS5 and PC, with actor Matthew McConaughey in a central role. It takes place in the far future, with players controlling The Traveler as they explore the universe to find resources for an Earth which has seen better days. Time dilation is a core mechanic, as days-long journeys can result in several years passing on Earth, leading to various changes. Head here for more details.

However, it seems the battle royale project – which is reportedly codenamed Tatanka – has met a premature end. XboxEra co-founder Nick Baker said during a recent episode of the XboxEra Podcast that he had heard Tatanka had been cancelled, which, curiously enough, is something that Xbox insider colteastwood has heard from separate sources as well.

In January last year, it was reported that though development on Tatanka had started as a battle royale experience, the project had evolved in different directions since then, and that it was being built on Unreal Engine 5. Whether that reformed project has been cancelled or if it has simply morphed and changed into something completely different remains unclear.

Of course, it’s worth keeping in mind that this is an unverified rumour about a game that hadn’t yet been officially announced, so take this with a grain of salt for now. Stay tuned for more updates.

While the studio hasn’t provided too many details about the game, CEO Max Hoberman has stated that it has been pitching the title to publishers behind closed doors at Gamescom.

Hoberman took to Twitter to make the announcement about Project Loro, stating that the playable demo for the game is bound to put “a lot of smiles on people’s faces.”

Certain Affinity has worked on quite a few titles over the years since its founding in 2006, with its most recent work being found through datamining in Halo Infinite, where players spotted data relating to a battle royale mode for the game developed by the studio. According to reports, the battle royale experience is called Tatanka.

The studio was also believed to be working on an Xbox-exclusive title that would be heavily inspired by Capcom’s Monster Hunter franchise. Since the studio hasn’t really revealed any details about Project Loro, however, it is unknown if this is the culmination of that project.

Today was a second full day of behind closed doors pitches at Gamescom, and our playable demo put a lot of smiles on people's faces. We tell everyone the project codename, and it's bound to get out, so let me be the first.

Say hello to Loro, a working title for our original FPS. pic.twitter.com/ycZgZYIG2F

— Max Hoberman (@MaxHoberman) August 23, 2023

So what led to the decision to not have Halo feature in the showcase at all? According to Xbox boss Phil Spencer, it was simply a case of having plenty to showcase outside of Halo, which means that, unlike past years at Xbox, there isn’t as much of a reliance on the franchise for a showcase event.

“I wouldn’t say Halo is of lesser importance, but we have over 20 studios now,” Spencer said in a recent interview with The Guardian. “I’ll go back to the years where we had basically four games – Fable, Forza, Halo, Gears, the four horseman of the apocalypse. We have a lot more games now.”

The star of the show at the recent Xbox Games Showcase was, of course, Starfield, with Bethesda’s upcoming space-faring RPG impressing in its comprehensive showing. Plenty of other upcoming first party titles were shown off as well, including the likes of Fable, Avowed, Forza Motorsport, Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2, Clockwork Revolution, South of Midnight, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, Towerborne, and more.

But though it doesn’t look like there are any immediate plans for single player Halo content, work on Certain Affinity’s long-rumoured battle royale mode for Halo Infinite, codenamed Tatanka, is apparently forging ahead. In fact, based on Bloomberg’s report, the project may even have expanded beyond its original scope.

As per the report, Tatanka, which started as a battle royale experience, has evolved “in different directions”. What exactly that entails remains unclear, but the report also refers to it as a separate game. Interestingly, it’s also claimed that it is being built on Unreal Engine, with 343 Industries allegedly having migrated to the engine and dropped Slipspace.

Certain Affinity officially confirmed in April last year that it had been “entrusted with further evolving Halo Infinite in some new and exciting ways”. While details on the project remain scant, the studio has said that whatever it is will be “something big and new for the franchise”.

Though he didn’t provide any concrete details on what players can expect from it, Hoberman said that it’s the biggest of the three projects Certain Affinity has in the works right now, with a 100-plus strong team working on it. As per Hoberman, it’s “something new and big” for the Halo franchise.

“The biggest thing we’re doing that’s public right now, for more than two years now we’ve been working on Halo Infinite doing something that–they’re very prescriptive about what we can say,” he said. “But we’re doing something unannounced, and we’re doing lead development on that unannounced thing, from conception and design. It’s something big and new for the franchise. But I can’t say any more about it. That’s our single largest project of our three projects currently. We have close to 100 developers working on that.”

Though official details are scant, past reports have claimed that Certain Affinity is developing a large-scale battle royale experience for Halo Infinite. It is also claimed to be a user-friendly experience that will also tie into the upcoming Forge mode somehow.

Other reports have also claimed that the studio is also currently developing a Monster Hunter-inspired game exclusively for Xbox in partnership with Microsoft. Read more on that through here.

Support studio Certain Affinity has confirmed that it’s working on expanding Halo Infinite’s multiplayer, and as per journalist Jez Corden, that’s referring to a large-scale battle royale mode that has been in the works for a couple of years at this point. Recently on the Xbox Two podcast (via VGC), Corden dropped some more potential details on what the battle royale mode – which is allegedly codenamed Tatanka – will entail.

According to Corden, Tatanka will feature elements from the single player campaign on top of its battle royale structure, making for an experience that’s “not a traditional battle royale.” This includes PvPvE elements, being able to take over Forward Operating Bases (which would presumably mean the map will have AI-controlled Banished enemies as well), and several side quests and high value targets.

Corden says these will likely serve as “a sort of evolving objective thing”, and might also contribute to players earning points. Interestingly, he also mentions that the mode is being designed as an experience that focuses on bringing in players that haven’t traditionally been Halo fans or players, which aligns with what he has previously reported. Players can also expect duos and trios modes, which has been suggested by recently datamined information as well.

As for when the battle royale mode will launch, Corden says there’s a chance that it’s out towards the end of the year when season 3 launches, though there’s just as much of a chance that it slips into early 2023 to align with season 4.

Halo Infinite is available on Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and PC.

It’s been reported for a while that support studio Certain Affinity is working on a new multiplayer mode for Halo Infinite, and the developer itself recently said that it was working on expanding the game in “new and exciting ways”. Recent reports have claimed that the mode, codenamed “Tatanka”, is going to be a massive battle royale experience, and now, further details on it seem to have come to light thanks to dataminers.

As reported by @leaks_infinite on Twitter, datamining seems to have uncovered various details on Tatanka. The battle royale experience will apparently offer the option for solo free for all matches, or playing in teams of either two or for players. Bots will also be featured, it seems, similar to the base multiplayer experience.

Several game mode settings for Tatanka have also emerged, hinting at various mechanics like limited respawns, revives, executions, and more. Finally, it also seems like the game mode is currently being tested, and while that doesn’t necessarily say anything concrete about how far along it might be in its development process, it does seem like things are ramping up behind the scenes.

Of course, nothing has been officially announced just yet, so keep that in mind for now. We’ll keep an eye out for more details, so stay tuned.

Halo Infinite is available on Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and PC.

Tatanka Gamemode Confirmed Battle Royale Type Gamemode #HaloInfinite
➡️Tatanka-Duos-UGC
➡️Tatanka-Quads-UGC
➡️Tatanka-DefaultBots-UGC
➡️Tatanka-Default-UGC pic.twitter.com/YS8k6YLDSU

— Halo Leaks (@leaks_infinite) April 16, 2022

Tatanka Gamemode Settings #HaloInfinite pic.twitter.com/wA1C3pPW4I

— Halo Leaks (@leaks_infinite) April 16, 2022

Tatanka Bot Lobby Sizes #HaloInfinite pic.twitter.com/mDf3xtWBPw

— Halo Leaks (@leaks_infinite) April 16, 2022

Tatanka Gamemode Is Currently Been Tested #HaloInfinite pic.twitter.com/bI3plXcWKt

— Halo Leaks (@leaks_infinite) April 16, 2022