The last few years seem to have been particularly difficult for 343 Industries (now Halo Studios), particularly due to a complicated launch for Halo Infinite and a follow-up that failed to keep players coming back. Thus, in 2022, the management of the studio changed to place Pierre Hintz at its head. Although rather discreet, he made a video appearance this Sunday to confirm the development of several Halo games under Unreal Engine 5. While this news is particularly intriguing, a well-informed insider has at the same time shared information on the development from Halo Infinite 2.
Against all expectations, Halo Infinite 2 would have been in development at 343 Industries
According to Rebs Gaming, who is particularly well informed about the Halo universe, the former 343 Industries campaign team began development of Halo Infinite 2 immediately after the release of Halo Infinite, still using the Slipspace engine. . This project would have continued throughout 2022, until new management took over. He specifies that it would have decided to switch to Unreal Engine 5 at the end of 2022, forcing the creative team to spend the following months familiarizing themselves with this new engine.
Despite this transition, the campaign team would never have felt supported by the new leadership. The problems already present under the previous management would have persisted, leaving the team in a difficult situation. Rebs Gaming says the new management has reportedly considered outsourcing campaign-related content, although nothing seems certain on that front.
The development of Halo Infinite 2 would have taken place in parallel with the Tatanka project, a Battle Royale which would have been canceled. However, by January 2023, Microsoft had made massive layoffs, including the entire 343 Industries campaign creative team.
Doubts remain about the existence of Halo Infinite 2, in particular whether Halo Studios has chosen to continue with Unreal Engine 5 or whether the company is working on a completely different project for the sequel to Infinite.
Finally, still according to Rebs Gaming, a campaign DLC for Halo Infinite would have been developed in secret in parallel with the main project, awaiting a possible green light given by management.
All this information should obviously be taken with a grain of salt, but Rebs Gaming has proven its reliability on numerous occasions. It will certainly take a lot of patience before a Halo project under Unreal Engine 5 is announced.
