Halo Studios Adopts Unreal Engine 5 for Top-Quality Halo Games

Microsoft has exciting news for fans of the Halo franchise: multiple new Halo games are on the horizon, accompanied by the rebranding of 343 Industries, the studio behind the beloved military sci-fi series, to “Halo Studios.”

Xbox Game Studio's 343 Industries Rebrands to Halo Studios

"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," Studio Head Pierre Hintze stated in the 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."

The studio is set to leverage Epic Games' Unreal Engine 5 (UE5) for these new Halo titles. UE5 is renowned for its ability to deliver 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 tweeted. "Epic is honored that the Halo Studios team has chosen our tools to help with their future work!"

In discussing the franchise's new direction, Halo's lead developers emphasized their commitment to quality. "We had a disproportionate focus on trying to create the conditions to be successful in servicing Halo Infinite," Hintze explained, adding that the switch to UE5 will enable them to produce more Halo games at the highest level of quality possible. "We want a singular focus," he said. "Everyone in this place is here to make the best possible Halo games."

Halo franchise COO Elizabeth Van Wyck echoed this sentiment, stating, "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 highlighted their strategy to gather broader feedback from the player base as they navigate the franchise's 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 player expectations evolve, Studio Art Director Chris Matthew noted that transitioning to UE5 allows the developers to meet fan demands more effectively. "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."

The move to UE5 also promises faster updates and new content for the Halo series. "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 said. With these plans in place, Halo Studios has begun recruiting talent for their upcoming projects.