At yesterday’s Halo World Championship, developer 343 Industries announced said it has officially changed its name to Halo Studios. The company also announced that it has many new games in the pipeline and is shifting all future Halo development from its proprietary Slipspace Engine. Unreal engine 5.
In a YouTube video (below), the new studio showed off elements of the “Project Foundry” Unreal Engine research project that has been ongoing for the past few years. While just a tech demo for now, it showcased Master Chief and Covenant elite designs, along with three biomes including the Cascades-style terrain, the Flood-affected Blightlands, and the snowy Coldlands.
“With all due respect, some components of Slipspace are almost 25 years old,” said Halo Studios art director Chris Matthews Xbox Wire. “While 343 has been developing it continuously, there are aspects of Unreal that Epic has been developing for some time that are not available to us at Slipspace – and would take a lot of time and resources to try and replicate.”
The company plans to hire new employees and have multiple teams working on multiple 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 is under the direction of Hintze, GM Bryan Koski and COO Elizabeth Van Wyck after GM Bonnie Ross leaves the studio in 2022.
Some of this information has been It leaked in early 2023With reports of 343 “starting from scratch” on Halo development after being fired. The studio was said to be switching to the Unreal Engine after struggling with the old Slipspace platform. 343 Industry at that time confirmed It was “here to stay” after rumors that Microsoft might move the Halo franchise to other studios.
