Halo Studios Adopts Unreal Engine 5 for Superior Halo Games

Microsoft has exciting news for Halo fans: multiple new Halo games are on the horizon, alongside the rebranding of 343 Industries to "Halo Studios."

Xbox Game Studio's 343 Industries Rebrands to Halo Studios

Halo Studios Ramps Up Plans of Building Halo Games Players Want

"If you really break Halo down, there have been two very distinct chapters. Chapter 1 – Bungie. Chapter 2 – 343 Industries. Now, I think we have an audience which is hungry for more," said Studio Head Pierre Hintze in an announcement post. "So we’re not just going to try [to] improve the efficiency of development, but change the recipe of how we make Halo games. So, we start a new chapter today."

Halo Studios has also announced that they will develop their upcoming Halo titles using Epic Games' Unreal Engine 5 (UE5). This engine is renowned for delivering high-quality graphics and realistic game physics. "The first Halo redefined console gaming in 2001, and over the generations Halo has pushed the state of the art forward with amazing gameplay, story, and music," Epic CEO Tim Sweeney said in a tweet. "Epic is honored that the Halo Studios team has chosen our tools to help with their future work!"

In their announcement, Halo's lead developers discussed the new direction for the military sci-fi franchise. "We had a disproportionate focus on trying to create the conditions to be successful in servicing Halo Infinite," Hintze explained. He added that the transition to UE5 will enable them to produce more Halo games with the highest quality possible. "We want a singular focus," Hintze said. "Everyone in this place is here to make the best possible Halo games."

Halo franchise COO Elizabeth Van Wyck emphasized the importance of player feedback: "At the end of the day, if we build the games that our players want to play, that’s how we’ll be successful. That’s what should motivate what we build. That’s also what this structure has done – we want the people that are day-in-day-out making the games to be the ones to make the decisions on the games." Van Wyck also mentioned their plans to seek broader feedback from the player base as they embark on this new direction. "At the end of the day, it’s not just how do we evaluate, it’s how do our players evaluate it?"

As gaming expectations evolve, Studio Art Director Chris Matthew noted that moving to UE5 will help them meet fan expectations. "Respectfully, some components of Slipspace are almost 25 years old," he said. "Although 343 were developing it continuously, there are aspects of Unreal that Epic has been developing for some time, which are unavailable to us in Slipspace – and would have taken huge amounts of time and resources to try and replicate."

Transitioning Halo to UE5 will also allow for quicker updates and new content. "It’s not just about how long it takes to bring a game to market, but how long it takes for us to update the game, bring new content to players, adapt to what we’re seeing our players want," Van Wyck explained. With these plans in motion, Halo Studios has begun hiring for their new projects.