An alleged former Halo developer claims that 343 Industries, now Halo Studios, scrapped a planned Halo Infinite 2 project when the company decided to develop new projects in Unreal Engine 5.
A screenshot from Halo Infinite (2021), 343 Industries
This rumor comes from YouTuber Rebs Gaming. He shared, “This information, which was shared with me by my source who I used in my Halo Infinite campaign reports and was a former Halo developer, reveals how Halo Studios’ new leadership drastically changed the course of Halo’s future.”
He elaborated, “So right after Halo Infinite was released in December 2021, 343’s campaign team began developing Halo Infinite 2 in the Slipspace engine.”
Next, he shared what his source told him, “We moved right over to Infinite 2 and started making stuff. We had such high hopes for Infinite 2. Gameplay was there, keep the team together and do a second pass to just improve. I think we could have done a good job.”
A screenshot from Halo Infinite (2021), 343 Industries
From there he notes how this project was scrapped, “But plans completely changed when new leadership took over 343 in September 2022. They quickly decided to switch to Unreal Engine for future Halo games and canceled the Halo Infinite 2 project.”
Interestingly, he then notes that Microsoft laid off the entire creative of 343 employees that were training in Unreal Engine to begin work on the next Halo game.
Furthermore, his source informed him, “The idea that when new leadership took over that it somehow enabled more clarity into what was actually happening is laughable… Let’s just that campaign leadership never felt supported by new leadership and I bet if you talked to most of the people that got laid off they would say new leadership would outsource campaign content.”
It seems apparent that they did not support them given they were laid off.
Key art for Halo Infinite (2021), 343 Industries
This rumor comes in the wake of Microsoft rebranding 343 Industries into Halo Studios and announcing it is completely changing the recipe for how they make Halo games beginning with development taking place in Unreal Engine 5.
Vice President and Studio Head Pierre Hintze said, ““Halo Infinite was the last remnant of how we made Halo games in the past. That was our recipe. And what we are doing right now is we are changing our recipe.”
He elaborated on this with Xbox Wire, “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. So we’re not just going to try improve the efficiency of development, but change the recipe of how we make Halo games. So, we start a new chapter today.”
Promotional material of Master Chief against a Covenant via Xbox Wire
What do you make of this rumor that the company was working on Halo Infinite 2 for at least a couple of years, but subsequently scrapped the project? How much money do you think they spent on this project that they ultimately shut down?
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