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[Draugoth]

343 Industries has a dedicated team working on the next Halo game's campaign, new reports indicate.

These assertions match up with reports from Bloomberg's Jason Schreier from early 2023, which discussed how 343 Industries was hit particularly hard by the recent Microsoft layoffs. 343i had restructured its business following the departure of studio founder Bonnie Ross, with Master Chief Collection head Pierre Hintze taking over for Ross. The studio had outright eliminated some roles while also making layoffs and letting people go in the process.

Do I have any info on the Halo campaign? The short answer is nothing specific. What I can say, what I know anyway, is that yes, they do have a team working on the next Halo campaign. It is part of the restructure that is building the next generation of Halo on Unreal,

Ains said in the SG Bitcast 269 podcast.

I don't know--if I'm a betting man, I think I told a friend the other day that the earliest I would expect to see another Halo singleplayer campaign outside of Firefight and stuff they're doing in Infinite, is a couple years. It's going to be a while so don't hold your breath."

The next big Halo project is a unique mash-up that's codenamed Tatanka, possibly referring to the Lakota word for buffalo. Tatanka is being co-developed by Certain Affinity, a studio that has worked on Halo for quite some time, and is reportedly a mix of battle royale and extraction shooter.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

 

[IFireflyl]

Awesome. They're replacing the engine, the one thing that wasn't the issue.

 

[nikeboy94]

Well, atleast it'll look good.

 

[Ozzy Onya A2Z]

I've said it before, in Max Hoberman we trust.

I think dev on this title has been going for 3.5 years now from memory. Probably got word from above to flesh it out more in light of Infinite downs and ups and downs and ups.

 

[Pejo]

343 still?

 

[OverHeat]

Unreal engine….Im sceptical it’s going to play the same.

 

[Bruno_Arrais85]

uh oh

 

[ManaByte]

So much for MP at 120fps

 

[SlimeGooGoo]

No engine can fix bad game design and bad writing.

 

[M.W.]

LMAO

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

343 still?

They did get rid of Bonnie Ross, Chris Lee and some of the other upper-level management who were floundering there, so that's quasi-good.

I think there might be a workplace cultural issue though that'd be much harder to fix.

 

[MikeM]

Halo. Now with stutters.

 

[Pedro Motta]

NeoGAF GOTY 2030.

 

[skit_data]

Unreal engine….Im sceptical it’s going to play the same.

Engines are so interesting in that way, doesn't CoD still have parts of Quake 2 code running etc?
Seems very hard to translate some of the feel between engines because is so so deeply entrenched in the core aspects.

 

[Sephimoth]

Didn't they say Infinite was a 10 year thing? I think it's best to move on though.

 

[analog_future]

This'll be really interesting.

This is pretty much an entirely different studio compared to what it was with Infinite. And now an entirely different engine as well.


If nothing else, this should be a swing for the fences attempt.

 

[MagnesD3]

Can i just get a new IP with that grappling hook?

 

[Varteras]

Wait... the guy that was in charge of the Master Chief Collection runs the studio now? Someone please tell me this isn't a bad thing. No sarcasm.

 

[adamsapple]

Wasn't this already known like a year ago that they're transitioning to UE5 ?

 

[clarky]

Wait... the guy that was in charge of the Master Chief Collection runs the studio now? Someone please tell me this isn't a bad thing. No sarcasm.

Of course its not. He fixed MCC and is well on the way to fixing HI. Both games are in a pretty good spot atm. Regardless of the narrative on GAF.

They pumped all the half wits who long outstayed their welcome, be interesting to see if he can completely turn 343 around.

This guy deservers a shot at a new Halo game if you ask me.

 

[Syphon Filter]

Well, atleast it'll look good.

unreal would look weird for halo, the art style will lose its soul.

 

[adamsapple]

Wait... the guy that was in charge of the Master Chief Collection runs the studio now? Someone please tell me this isn't a bad thing. No sarcasm.

The headline should be enough to let you know it's in good hands. MCC, now, is an amazing package. A 180* turnaround from launch.

Developer who saved Master Chief Collection now runs 343 Industries

As 343i founder Bonnie Ross departs, Pierre Hintze, who helped turn the Master Chief Collection into one of the best games, now leads 343 Industries.

www.tweaktown.com

 

[SABRE220]

Oh boy the studio itself is a mess and now they're switching to an engine which has caused headaches for every studio who has used it so far in terms of optimization and performance. Only epic itself has gotten decent results from the engine so far and I have zero confidence in 343,s ability to utilize it well with no experience. Im not looking forward to what will be delivered when they will have to target 60fps on an engine that so far throttles the systems when using 2 of its core features and they will have to incorporate series S in the equation.

Man I miss bungies halo games, even though they might not have been the very elite in graphics in scale,gameplay,design they were amazing and they utilized their engine perfectly for their goals. Still remember reach and it was amazing on the 360.

 

[clarky]

Oh boy the studio itself is a mess and now they're switching to an engine which has caused headaches for every studio who has used it so far in terms of optimization and performance. Only epic itself has gotten decent results from the engine so far and I have zero confidence in 343,s ability to utilize it well with no experience. Im not looking forward to what will be delivered when they will have to target 60fps on an engine that so far throttles the systems when using 2 of its core features and they will have to incorporate series S in the equation.

Man I miss bungies halo games, even though they might not have been the very elite in graphics in scale,gameplay,design they were amazing and they utilized their engine perfectly for their goals. Still remember reach and it was amazing on the 360.

What the fuck are you on about young man?

 

[intbal]

Can i just get a new IP with that grappling hook?

Sure.
Here ya go:

 

[nemiroff]

Nah. Raze the thing to the ground, chase the management out, disinfect, build from the ground up with a meritocratic milieu in center.

 

[ReBurn]

Nah. Raze the thing to the ground, chase the management out, disinfect, build from the ground up with a meritocratic milieu in center.

They already razed it and chased the management out.

 

[BlackTron]

The engine feels good in Infinite (which has the dumbest name ever) but I think they're changing it to facilitate development. You know so everyone who works on it doesn't have to deal with a custom engine full of intricacies going back to 360. I'm glad we got a game like that before they moved on though. I think Halo needs a fresh slate and the engine change may as well go with it.

 

[Mr Reasonable]

Well, if they're still bringing in contractors, this will at least mean that they'll be more familiar with the environment and hopefully require less time to get acclimatized.

Personally, I think it's a shame they're not doing dlc for infinite, but if they're starting over, hopefully they'll be taking a different approach to the next release and will release something that more closely resembles a finished product than they did last time...

 

[Mister Wolf]

Looking forward to it. Had a lot of fun with Infinite's campaign. A shame we didn't get an expansion so I can have an excuse to play through it again.

 

[Cert.in.Death]

The way Staten exited from 343i, a change of engine is the least of Halo's issues

 

[LiquidMetal14]

Guess that guarantees no split screen.

 

[DAHGAMING]

720p upscaled, lets go champ.

 

[clarky]

The way Staten exited from 343i, a change of engine is the least of Halo's issues

How so? He was there to get Halo out of the door, he did that. Mission complete. Got offered some tasty stress free dollars over at Netflix and took it as far as im aware. Maybe i read it wrong.

 

[S0ULZB0URNE]

Why?
COD is the series that needs a new engine.

 

[Jinzo Prime]

Why?
COD is the series that needs a new engine.

The engine is too complex for contract workers to use effectively.

 

[clarky]

Why?
COD is the series that needs a new engine.

Off topic but those games look and run great on a high end PC. Looked decent enough on the series X and PS5 last time i checked. What's up with COD?

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

It's the best engine in the industry so...

 

[S0ULZB0URNE]

Off topic but those games look and run great on a high end PC. Looked decent enough on the series X and PS5 last time i checked. What's up with COD?

No they don’t.
It's still the 1998 Q3 engine at heart.

 

[freefornow]

Hmmm, maybe time to fold 343i as a studio. Goodwill is not there.
Pin this up in the corporate break room and throw a dart at it. Bound to hit some studio that is Infinite-ly better.

 

[ResilientBanana]

Awesome. They're replacing the engine, the one thing that wasn't the issue.

The engine has been something that held halo back for sometime due to its difficulty and workflow. Moving to unreal engine will aid and allow people with experience in the engine to pop assets out quickly. That being said, I hate there’s another game on UE. But maybe this is the best for Halo.

 

[clarky]

No they don’t.
It's still the 1998 Q3 engine at heart.

You could say that about every engine used today. Looks like we'll have to agree to disagree. im playing MW3 right now and it looks just as good as any other shooter out there and runs like a champ.

What engine do you suggest COD (or Halo for that matter) should be using?

 

[NikuNashi]

343?

Guess Xbox has given up HALO being a core franchise.

Incoming, Masterchief removes helmet to reveal a

Spoiler

stunning and brave blue haired immigrant non binary in a wheelchair.

 

[Jinzo Prime]

No they don’t.
It's still the 1998 Q3 engine at heart.

As long as it works, and works well, why change it? Blam/Tiger Engine is apparently hard for even the modern Bungie to use, while COD keeps churning out games yearly.

 

[Matsuchezz]

Now they are reviving dead franchises. Game pass quality expected. The GP subs will fund this game so the development will be “free” for Microsoft.

 

[LordOfChaos]

So I guess Infinite being the launching platform for years of story expansion is out the window?

I'm glad that at least the future of Halo SP is being worked on though, I'd like more clarity on its future. I hope it's not another awkward restart after Guardians and Infinite already did to each game before them though.

 

[HeWhoWalks]

Well, atleast it'll look good.

Craig hopes so.

 

[LordOfChaos]

The next big Halo project is a unique mash-up that's codenamed Tatanka, possibly referring to the Lakota word for buffalo. Tatanka is being co-developed by Certain Affinity, a studio that has worked on Halo for quite some time, and is reportedly a mix of battle royale and extraction shooter.

Mash-up?

Monsterverse style non-canon Doomguy vs Master chief split campaign game, I don't give a fuck do it

 

[S0ULZB0URNE]

You could say that about every engine used today. Looks like we'll have to agree to disagree. im playing MW3 right now and it looks just as good as any other shooter out there and runs like a champ.

What engine do you suggest COD (or Halo for that matter) should be using?

For COD?ID Tech 7 as it's far newer than Q3's, looks great and performance is top notch plus they own it.

I dunno if that would scale well with Halo or what else they could use besides UE5 if they want good performance.