343 Industries Is Now Halo Studios. Developer Bets on Unreal Engine 5

As a seasoned gamer with decades of gaming under my belt, I must say that the news about 343 Industries becoming Halo Studios and their shift to Unreal Engine 5 has piqued my interest. Being a fan of the Halo series since its inception, I’ve witnessed firsthand the visual evolution of these games, and I can attest that they were indeed a “visual show.


343 Industries has been rebranded as Halo Studios, and they’re transitioning to a brand-new game engine – this update comes from the makers of Halo: Infinite, who shared this news in a revealing video about their newly named team.

The team opted to join numerous other studios who have transitioned away from their unique tech, instead choosing to utilize the widely-used Unreal Engine 5, currently being employed by Halo Studios for multiple projects. According to them, the initial Halo series was a visual spectacle and pioneered graphics in gaming. Consequently, the upcoming installments of the series should embody similar visual prowess, offering a glimpse with the shared content from the creators.

Below, you’ll find a video showcasing three unique landscapes developed within the scope of the Project Foundry. This is an innovative research initiative focusing on exploring the creative possibilities of the Unreal Engine for the upcoming generation of Halo games, which combines various disciplines.

It has been suggested that the aging Slipcase engine might have contributed to the difficulties encountered during the development of Halo Infinite. Over time, it seems that this technology wasn’t user-friendly, which reportedly led to the game’s challenging development process and slow post-launch support (as reported by Jason Schreier from Bloomberg).

There appears to be a split opinion among players regarding the studio’s name change. Some believe that the inclusion of “visual layer” in the new title is incorrect, arguing that it was not just the graphics that made the old Halo games so popular. Additionally, it’s well-known that not every Halo fan has a warm feeling towards 343 Industries, particularly following the early discontinuation of Infinite (even though by then the game had already provided the content that fans initially missed at its launch).

Instead of developing the engine themselves, Halo Studios can prioritize aspects such as gameplay and level design by utilizing a pre-existing, reliable engine. This approach is likely what other studios opted for when they decided to abandon custom technologies, frequently following trials with their own engines (as demonstrated by CD Projekt RED).

It’s also important to note that speculations about 343 Industries potentially transitioning to Unreal Engine have been circulating, coinciding with news of layoffs at the studio in early 2023. According to reports from Bloomberg and Windows Central, around 95 employees have departed the studio, partly due to disagreements over the decision to move away from the Slipcase engine.

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2024-10-07 14:01