Multiple Halo games in the works as Xbox developer shows off new graphics

Halo's Master Chief in Unreal Engine 5 — Master Chief has never looked better (Halo Studios)

Xbox studio 343 Industries has announced a rebranding, with a move to Unreal Engine 5 and the promise of multiple new Halo titles.

Ever since 343 Industries took over from Bungie with 2012’s Halo 4, the once-prestigious Halo franchise has lost a lot of its status as a defining Xbox flagship.

The studio’s last game was 2021’s Halo Infinite, which was received relatively well when it was released but failed to maintain long-term interest – between the cancellation of the promised split-screen co-op mode and a lack of updates for the multiplayer in general.

Since then, the studio has been impacted by layoffs and staff exits, with reports claiming it had even been taken off Halo entirely. A new update from the studio, however, has reaffirmed 343 Industries is staying on Halo, albeit with some major changes.

Following the 2024 Halo World Championships, 343 Industries shared a post on Xbox Wire, which outlines several big behind-the-scenes changes. Among these shifts is the studio’s name, which is changing from 343 Industries to Halo Studios.

The other big change is technological, with the studio ditching its proprietary Slipspace Engine, which was used for Halo Infinite and partially blamed for that game’s delay, and moving to Unreal Engine 5.

As part of the announcement, the studio shared a video showing off various Halo locations running in the engine, which they stressed isn’t from a game but is instead a ‘research project’ called Foundry, designed to showcase what can be achieved.

Discussing the changes, studio lead Pierre Hintze said: ‘If you really break Halo down, there have been two very distinct chapters. 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 and improve the efficiency of development, but change the recipe of how we make Halo games. So, we start a new chapter today.’

It’s suggested the engine switch will solve many issues the studio encountered during Halo Infinite’s development, allowing the team to ‘focus on making games, versus making the tools and the engines’.

‘We believe that the consumption habits of gamers have changed – the expectations of how fast their content is available,’ Hintze added. ‘On Halo Infinite, we were developing a tech stack that was supposed to set us up for the future, and games at the same time.’

Halo Studios art director, Chris Matthews, said: ‘Respectfully, some components of Slipspace are almost 25 years old. 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 have taken huge amounts of time and resources to try and replicate.

‘One of the primary things we’re interested in is growing and expanding our world so players have more to interact with and more to experience. [Unreal’s lighting technology] Nanite and Lumen offer us an opportunity to do that in a way that the industry hasn’t seen before. As artists, it’s incredibly exciting to do that work.’

The studio suggests moving away from the Slipspace Engine will also allow for a smoother process when it comes to hiring new people (which it is currently), as Unreal is widely used across the industry.

Halo in Unreal Engine 5 — Is a remake of Halo on the way? (Halo Studios)

The big question is whether these changes will reinstate Halo as a key selling point for Xbox, but it certainly sounds like a step in the right direction. It’s likely we’ll hear more about the future of Halo as we approach Microsoft’s plans for the next generation, which is rumoured could be here as soon as 2026.

Given these announcements it certainly wouldn’t be a surprise if the aim was to have a Halo: Combat Evolved remake as a launch title for the new hardware.