At yesterday’s Halo World Championships, developers 343 Industries announced that they were officially changing their name to Halo Studios. The company also revealed that it has several new games in the pipeline and is switching all future Halo development from its proprietary Slipspace Engine to Unreal Engine 5.
In a YouTube video (below) the new studio showed off features from the Unreal Engine “Project Foundry” research effort that’s been going on for the past few years. Although it’s a technical demo at the moment, it showcased the designs of Master Chief and the Covenant elite, as well as three biomes including the Cascades, the flood-affected Blightlands and the icy Coldlands.
“Respectfully, some parts of Slipspace are probably 25 years old,” Halo Studios art director Chris Matthews told Xbox Wire. with us at Slipspace – and it would have taken a lot of time and resources to try and replicate.”
The company plans to hire new staff and have multiple teams working on several games simultaneously using a centralized UE5 pipeline. Halo Studios didn’t reveal any specific projects or timelines, with CEO Pierre Hintze simply saying “they’ll be ready when they’re ready.” The studio has been under the leadership of Hintze, GM Bryan Koski and COO Elizabeth Van Wyck since the departure of GM Bonnie Ross in 2022.
Some of this information was leaked in early 2023, with reports that the 343 was “starting over” in Halo development following layoffs. The studio is said to be switching to Unreal Engine after struggling with its aging Slipspace. At the time, 343 Industries confirmed that it was “here to stay” following rumors that Microsoft might shift the Halo franchise to other studios.
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