Several Halo games are now in development under Halo Studios
Halo has moved to Unreal Engine 5, with Halo Studios creating multiple new games for the franchise
The next chapter of the Halo franchise has started. Several new Halo games are in development at Halo Studios, all of which use Unreal Engine 5. Today, Microsoft showcased Project Foundry, an experimental look at what Halo could look like on Unreal Engine 5. Simply put, the results of this project are incredible.
343 Industries is gone, as is their Slipspace Engine. 343 has been reformed into Halo Studios, and the franchise has moved to Unreal Engine 5. As Halo Studios, the company can now focus exclusively on making great Halo games. Efforts will no longer need to be spent updating and reworking their proprietary game engine technology, simplifying the game development process.
Project Foundry is not a new Halo game; it is essentially a tech demo. It gives us a glimpse of what future Halo games could look like under Unreal Engine 5 and the levels of graphical fidelity that are possible using the engine.
What was showcased in Foundry will likely be seen again in future Halo projects. So we can expect to see frozen locations, flood-infested worlds, and classic forested settings.
Part of today’s announcement was a confirmation that Halo Studios is expanding. The move to Unreal Engine 5 should help the new studio recruit new staff. After all, Unreal Engine 5 is an industry-standard, unlike prior Halo game engines. Other game studios are making similar moves. For example, the next Tomb Raider game will be based on Unreal Engine 5. Additionally, CD Projekt Red has confirmed that they are moving to Unreal Engine 5 for their future games.
When will we see the first Halo game from Halo Studios?
Currently, it is unknown when we can expect to see a new Halo game to be released. After all, the studio has only now completed its transition to Unreal Engine 5. While multiple Halo games are now in development, none of these games are likely to launch anytime soon.
You can join the discussion on Halo Studios on the OC3D Forums.
