Microsoft had some big news to share today at the 2024 Halo World Championship, announcing that 343 Industries is now Halo Studios and there are multiple new games in development. Additionally, the team is transitioning from its proprietary Slipspace Engine to Unreal Engine 5 for all future Halo projects. The switch to Unreal Engine 5 is attributed to the resources required to develop and maintain the Slipspace Engine. Unreal allows Halo Studios to focus on creating games rather than allocating resources to engine development and upkeep. The company noted that Unreal comes with built-in benefits that would have taken years to replicate with Slipspace. A key advantage is talent recruitment, as far more engineers have experience with Unreal Engine than with Slipspace.
To ensure Unreal Engine 5 is a good fit for Halo, the team launched a research project called Project Foundry. The goal was to provide an accurate reflection of what a new Halo game would require using Unreal, making it more than just a traditional tech demo. You can see more on Project Foundry in the video below.
As for the games that are in development, unfortunately Halo Studios isn’t ready to share any details just yet. It’s clear a new Halo game isn’t imminent, and Halo Infinite will continue to be supported for years to come, as seen with the recent addition of a third-person mode. The company reiterated that multiple Halo games are currently in development. To make that possible, Halo Studios reorganized the structure of the company as a whole so that development teams have what they need to make something new.
