During the 2024 Halo World Championship in Seattle, Washington, 343 Industries, now called Halo Studios, unveiled several new upcoming projects. For one, Halo Infinite will soon debut a new third-person mode for multiplayer matches, a feature that was previously exclusive when operating vehicles. Halo: The Master Chief Collection’s Digsite team of modders announced that they’ll be making the fabled Halo 2 E3 2003 Demo public for all players to play on PC on November 9th, just in time for Halo 2’s 20th Anniversary. On top of these announcements was that Halo games will now be developed in Unreal Engine 5 through an initiative called Project Foundry.
Halo Developer Explains Why the Series is Moving to Unreal Engine 5
Members of the newly-renamed Halo Studios explain why they are switching from the proprietary Slipspace Engine to Epic's Unreal Engine 5.
Halo’s Project Foundry Explained
Named after the gigantic circular factory that produces Halo rings in the center of Installation 00 or the Ark, Project Foundry was first conceived by Studio Art Director Chris Matthews as a way for developers at Halo Studios to learn how to make Halo within Unreal. Project Foundry isn’t a game or tech demo but is rather a research project for Halo’s future within Unreal. Previous Halo games were developed within homegrown engines, including the Blam Engine and the Slipspace Engine. The Blam Engine was used to develop all of Bungie’s mainline Halo games, from Halo: Combat Evolved to Halo: Reach, and was later used for Halo 4 and Halo 5: Guardians. The Slipspace Engine has only been used for Halo Infinite.
So far, only a handful of proofs of concepts have been made as a part of Project Foundry. One features the iconic beacon tower found on every Halo ring in a Pacific Northwest-like landscape which many Halo rings have shown to house, including both Installations 04 and 07. Here, Master Chief, adorned in his Mark 5 armor, can be seen battling Elites with a waterfall in the background. Another features a beacon tower in a location called the Coldlands, covered with snow and ice. Finally, the third concept depicts a Halo ring completely overtaken by the Flood, with Flood spores and growth pods coating the entire landscape in complete disgusting glory.
Project Foundry’s Many Assets and Biomes’ Future
Matthews explained that Foundry was intended to have Halo Studios’ developers create something old, something new, and something truly alien in Unreal but still have it remain aligned with Halo’s art style. Studio Head Pierre Hintze clarified in an Xbox Wire article that every asset and biome built in Foundry can be used for and is expected to be used in future projects. Editor-in-Chief of Xbox Wire Joe Skrebels later added that, “Foundry is designed to do things that we haven’t seen in games using Unreal across the industry…” With Foundry as the building off point, Halo Studios intends to make the Halo series a graphical leader in the gaming industry once more just like Halo: Combat Evolved had done before in 2001.
“Foundry is designed to do things that we haven’t seen in games using Unreal across the industry…”
Project Foundry’s Potential Influence on Future Halo Games
While Project Foundry wasn’t designed as a tech demo or as the basis for any Halo game in particular, its assets and breakthroughs may still set the stage for several Halo projects. Multiple Halo games have been confirmed to be in development, albeit in their early stages. For a while now, rumors have appeared of a complete remake of Halo: Combat Evolved releasing around Halo’s 25th Anniversary in 2026. Given the apparent focus on Halo: Combat Evolved settings and features such as Master Chief’s Mark 5 armor as opposed to his Mark 7 in Foundry, these developments may be used for that rumored game.
Since both Alpha and Zeta Halo feature environments based on the Pacific Northwest United States, Halo Studios could easily use the biomes of Foundry for Halo Infinite’s eventual sequel. In a clip of Foundry in a video called A New Dawn, a Banished-like Banshee can be seen flying through the Coldlands, suggesting that Halo Studios is working on assets beyond those found in Combat Evolved. The Banished and The Endless are still a major threat on Installation 07 despite the death of Escharum and Harbinger, so the next Halo game will likely take place on Zeta Halo again, at least in-part.
Halo Infinite
-
OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 87 /100 Critics Rec: 94%
- Released
- December 8, 2021
- ESRB
- T for Teen: Blood, Mild Language, Violence
- Developer(s)
- 343 Industries
- Publisher(s)
- Xbox Game Studios
- Engine
- Slipspace
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer
- Cross-Platform Play
- PC, Xbox One & Xbox Series X|S
WHERE TO PLAY
When all hope is lost and humanity’s fate hangs in the balance, the Master Chief is ready to confront the most ruthless foe he’s ever faced. Step inside the armor of humanity’s greatest hero to experience an epic open-world adventure and explore the massive scale of the Halo ring.
With Network Campaign Co-Op and Mission Replay, you can relive your favorite moments, rediscover collectibles and explore the wonders of Zeta Halo on your own or with up to three other fireteam members.
Experience Halo’s celebrated multiplayer reimagined and free-to-play! With over 70 maps in matchmaking, billions of customization configurations, and countless community Forge creations to experience, Halo Infinite is the franchise’s most expansive multiplayer offering to date.
Enjoy an unprecedented variety of gameplay experiences, ranging from fast-paced intense ranked modes to whimsical mayhem in Custom Games, or even co-operative coordination in the wave-based survival mode Firefight: King of the Hill. Assemble your Fireteam and conquer every mode – Halo offers endless opportunities for teamwork, strategy, and unforgettable victories.
- Cross Save
- yes
- Franchise
- Halo
- Steam Deck Compatibility
- yes
- Platform(s)
- PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
- Genre(s)
- First-Person Shooter
- How Long To Beat
- 12 Hours
- X|S Optimized
- Yes
- File Size Xbox Series
- 90 GB (November 2023)
- OpenCritic Rating
- Mighty
