Halo, once a dominant force in the gaming industry, has recently seen a sharp decline in popularity. The franchise that once defined the first-person shooter genre has struggled to keep up with its competitors and maintain its place in the hearts of gamers.
The cause of this downfall has been widely debated, but many point to Halo Infinite, the latest entry in the series, as the root of the problem. Many players were disappointed with the game’s initial release and the developer’s poor support for the title (lack of updates) in the months that followed. It seems as if the company knew about this and according to them, most of the blame goes towards the development engine used for the game.
See, it is a long-known fact that Slipspace Engine (343’s proprietary engine for Halo) was not user-friendly, and the people over at 343 hated it. There were numerous reports before saying that Halo will soon shift to Unreal Engine, however, nothing was made official. This is also the reason that Halo Infinite wasn’t receiving regular updates.
In a recent report from Bloomberg, it was confirmed that Halo’s upcoming game will be developed using Unreal Engine 5. We previously reported on this, and now it seems as if all the rumors were true. This is potentially great for the 343 as now, after the layoff fiasco, the future of the franchise was very much up in the air. With this change, the company can hopefully reorganize itself, ad produce some quality games.
Microsoft's 343 Industries will still make Halo games, despite rumors to the contrary. But with mass layoffs (at least 95 people), an engine pivot to Unreal, and a focus only on multiplayer for the near future, 343 is hitting the reset button. New story: https://t.co/kwfv6dsMuR
— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) January 31, 2023
After the layoffs, rumors began to emerge that the development of future Halo games will be split amongst multiple different companies. According to Bloomberg’s reporter, Jason Schreier‘s investigation, Microsoft’s Xbox Game Studios president Matt Booty promised 343 Industries employees that the company would retain creative control over Halo while collaborating with third parties.
This was again somewhat similar to what Matt said in response to the reports of Halo being sold off, where he essentially confirmed that 343 will remain Halo’s primary developer. On the other hand, Schreier reports that major changes are being implemented at the studio, the most noticeable of which being a new engine, and this change in itself can cause a lot of complexity. According to Schreier:
One of 343’s biggest core problems over the last few years has been a heavy reliance on contractors, who can only stay a maximum of 18 months. During this mass layoff, full-time employees got severance packages. Contractors got a few days to pack up and leave.”
This is a developing story, so check back later for more.
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