Halo Infinite developer studio head 343 Industries has announced that the Microsoft-owned studio will continue to develop Halo games, despite rumors to the contrary.
lately tweet (Opens in a new tab)Studio head Pierre Hintz announced, from the official Halo Twitter: “Halo and MasterChef are here to stay. 343 Industries will continue to develop Halo now and in the future, including the epic stories, multiplayer and more that make Halo great.”
The statement comes from the back of a troubling claim by Hello LeQueer Spartan bathrobe (Opens in a new tab) which indicates that 343 has been removed from “active development” of new Halo games following Microsoft’s latest wave of Great hairstyles for workersas its role is now being filled by third-party studios (Via Gamespot (Opens in a new tab)).
Starfield developers 343 Industries and Bethesda Game Studios have both been hit by Microsoft’s layoffs recently. In the wake of global economic fragility, the tech giant announced 10,000 job cuts as part of an effort to “allocate our capital and talent to areas of secular growth and the company’s long-term competitiveness.”
These corporate terms are difficult to parse, and many fear that it could mean negative implications for 343 Industries and the Halo series in the future. Despite these concerns, it appears that 343 is still holding its hand when it comes to Halo games.
The tweet itself is somewhat vague, however, and contains no specific indications of what exactly the future will look like for the 343 beyond the fact that it’s shaped like Halo. 343 has already made it clear that Infinite will not receive a sequel as such, but rather will be a “new platform” for Halo content reminiscent of the live service games (via IGN). It’s a brave new world for Halo, and only time will tell what this means for fans.
Covenant renewal
As someone who enjoyed Halo Infinite, I’ll admit I breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing the news that 343 Industries is still leading development. Although the latest installment in the series suffers from challenging battle passages, the gameplay on display seriously embodies the exhilarating physicality that was so central to the Halo experience. Pigs bounce amusedly as they move across the battlefields of Halo Infinite, while Spartans jump and weave in a way that recalls only the most satisfying arena shooters of yore.
Hintze’s announcement, however, raises an important question: Where does the series go from here? Halo Infinite puts an open-world spin on the traditional Halo campaign. It felt boldly reminiscent of the more open sections of the original Halo Combat Evolved while implementing more modern elements of open-world gameplay; Like the usual map loaded with waypoint.
Halo is at a crossroads. Future content patches could herald a return to the more traditional roots of Infinite’s predecessors or a renewed push into the open-world game. Neither move would necessarily be bad, but it’s clear to see how the first could stagnate the series while the second could dilute what makes Halo great in the first place. Regardless of whether or not 343 rises to the challenge, it will be interesting to see where the series goes in the years to come.