Halo games used to be on a pretty predictable schedule—we’d get one major one every 2-3 years. True, technically there was a five year gap between 2007’s Halo 3 and 2012’s Halo 4, but we got Halo 3: ODST in 2009, and Halo Reach in 2010, so we were getting something along the way.

But it’s been lights out for Halo shooters since 2015, when we got Halo 5: Guardians. People expected a Halo 6 in 2018, but while Halo Infinite did get announced last E3, the game itself isn’t out yet. Why has Halo Infinite taken so long?

According to Bonnie Ross of 343 Industries, the reason has to do with the engine the developer used to use for Halo games before switching over to Slipspace Engine with Infinite. The old engine had a very specific kind of game that could be used to make it, and was too limiting for the developers—enough that they felt compelled to make a new engine for it too, adding to the development time.

“The Halo engine is a very technical, engineering-focused engine — it’s super-hard for creatives to work in,” Ross said in an interview with IGN Unfiltered. “We promised the team [after Halo 4] that we would do the work on the tools and pipeline for Halo 5, so it wasn’t such a challenging environment to develop in. Best laid plans — we didn’t do that. The team, rightfully so, called us on it.

“We want a team who can do their best creative work with our engine, so it was taking the time — and we announced the Slipspace Engine — it’s all to make sure we’re building the platform for the future of Halo. So, it’s been a huge investment — bigger investment than we’ve ever done. We needed to [design a new engine] for [Infinite]. [It took us] a lot of work to get there.”

Ross promised that 343 Industries will share more about this engine come E3, which at least seems to indicate that we might get some Halo news then. Meanwhile, I wonder what kinds of changes 343 Industries was looking at making for Halo Infinite that the older engine might not have been able to allow for. RPG mechanics, perhaps?

There is very little we know about Halo Infinite right now, but one of the things that was conclusively and concretely established at E3 was that it will be made on a brand new engine, the SlipSpace Engine. In fact, one can argue that the Halo Infinite reveal was as much of one for the engine as it was for the game.

That engine may actually still be under development. 343 Industries’ job listings still reference the engine as being currently under development- although, there is always the possibility that the listings have simply not been updated, which does seem unlikely, since they refer to Halo Infinite by its name, so it had to have gone up after the game’s launch. Alternatively, maybe they are referencing the development in present tense simply because it is easier to attract and excite a prospective applicant by telling them something is being done, rather than something was done.

“Are you a talented engineer obsessed with developing incredible game engine technology?” the listing reads, looking for a Software Development Engineer. “Are you passionate about building performance critical systems to enable content creators to deliver world class experiences? Are you familiar with low level engine systems such as the scheduler, memory manager, and binary layout of game runtime data?

“343 Industries, the studio developing Halo Infinite, is looking for a talented, passionate, and effective Software Development Engineer to join our core engine team building the SlipSpace engine to power Halo Infinite. Come be part of a studio that pushes boundaries of technology, creativity and imagination. A studio that is player obsessed. A place where teammates seek to amplify each other.”

If the engine still is being developed, however, it may actually end up being a while before we get to see Halo Infinite. Some rumors had pegged it for a 2019 release, at least for the single player portion- but even if the engine is not complete right now, I don’t see how that could possibly happen.