Future Halo Games Transitioning to Unreal Engine 5 as 343 Industries Rebrands, with 'Multiple Projects' in Development

The future of Halo is starting to take shape. During the Halo World Championships, 343 Industries made several major announcements, including its rebranding to "Halo Studios" and the confirmation that all future projects will be developed on Unreal Engine, officially moving away from the Slipspace Engine used for Halo Infinite.

These updates were unveiled in a seven-minute video ahead of the Halo World Championship's grand finals, highlighting the results of Project Foundry, an experimental project that demonstrates what a Halo game built on Unreal Engine could look like. While it serves primarily as a tech demo, it teases a potential fresh start for Xbox's iconic franchise, following the release of Halo Infinite in 2021.

This marks a significant shift for the series, especially given the considerable investment in the Slipspace Engine over many years. Halo Infinite's development was hampered by Slipspace, largely due to the aging technology, some of which dates back to the early 2000s. Despite 343's efforts to modernize it, certain features simply couldn't be replicated without extensive time and resources. As Halo Studios' art director Chris Matthews explained, “Some components of Slipspace are almost 25 years old... aspects of Unreal have been in development for a long time, and it would have taken us immense effort to replicate them."

In early 2023, reports hinted at the possibility of a reset for the Halo series, following internal shake-ups and the transition to Unreal. At that time, developers were rumored to be pitching new Halo projects and experimenting with various prototypes. Project Foundry appears to be the result of this process, offering a first look at what could be next for the series.

Now, under the leadership of Pierre Hintze, Elizabeth Van Wyck, and Brian Koski, the newly rebranded Halo Studios is working on several new Halo projects. The leadership transition came after former studio head Bonnie Ross' departure in 2022 and the exit of Halo veteran Joseph Staten from Xbox in 2023. This rebranding and the shift to Unreal Engine follows Xbox's earlier statements that they are moving "full speed ahead" on developing a successor to the Xbox Series X|S.

"We spent too much time trying to ensure success for Halo Infinite’s live service,” Pierre Hintze said. "Switching to Unreal allows us to focus all our efforts on creating multiple new high-quality experiences."

Halo Studios stressed that their upcoming projects will only be released when they are fully ready, without committing to specific deadlines.