Just prior to the finals of the 2024 Halo World Championship, 343 Industries dropped a bombshell series of announcements regarding what lies in store for the Halo franchise, beginning with a complete rebrand. This sees a fresh start for the legendary game series, leaving the studio with just Halo Studios as its name.
Halo To Launch Multiple Games
Of course, that confirmation wasn’t the most exciting part — it was the fact that multiple games are in development right now with the advanced Unreal Engine 5. The latest news confirms previous whispers that the Slipspace Engine, which was first constructed for Halo Infinite, is no longer in use. Essentially, it had simply become too difficult to work with and improve their own tech alongside developing interesting video game content for the Halo series. Jumping to Unreal Engine 5 results in integrated tools that the Slipspace Engine simply did not have baked in, making game development faster and easier for them.
As the team researched Unreal Engine 5, they launched a project to learn about it called The Foundry. This project was attempting to duplicate the unique feeling of Halo environments. The team released a video earlier this month that detailed three different types of biomes: the traditional Pacific Northwest, an alien surface world, and a world infested by the Flood. In doing this they show off the scale and detail to which these environments aspire to provide giant open worlds that look absolutely amazing.
Halo is the latest in what’s becoming a long list of major franchises to move from their custom in-house engines over to Unreal Engine 5, with series’ like Tomb Raider and The Witcher already finding success using the new engine. This shift is particularly exciting for Epic Games, with Bill Clifford, Vice President and General Manager of Unreal Engine, expressing his enthusiasm: “Halo is such an incredible franchise, and it’s fantastic to see Halo Studios pushing the boundaries of Unreal Engine 5. We’re honored to support the Halo team in realizing their creative visions.”
This is alongside further expansion of the team at Halo Studios to meet increased project demand. As fans keep waiting for what’s next under the Halo Studios banner, a step like this from Activision plays to an exciting new era for the beloved franchise.
FAQs
What is the name change for 343 Industries?
343 Industries will now be known as Halo Studios.
- Advertisement -What engine will the new Halo games use?
The upcoming Halo games will be developed using Unreal Engine 5.
