Summary
It’s fair to say thatHalohas been undergoing a prolonged period of decline over the past decade. The series seemed to peak in popularity during the closing years of Bungie’s stewardship. Unfortunately, 343 Industries (now Halo Studios) never led the series to the same heights as its predecessor.
Halo Infinite’s disjointed release, which saw multiplayer releasing before the campaign and forge modes, robbed the series' latest instalment of any momentum it could have had. The game currently hovers between 1000 and 3500 concurrent players on Steam, a far cry from the 250,000 concurrent players the gamepeaked at on the platform.
The cancellation of Paramount’s Halo adaptation following the release of the second season was another blow to the reputation of the franchise.
Halo Studios Has Multiple Projects In The Works
Recognising that something needed to change, in October 2024, 343 Industries announced adramatic rebrand. The studio would now be known as Halo Studios and would be using Unreal Engine 5 to develop games rather than the series' proprietary Slipspace Engine, which has become obtuse and unwieldy over the years.
There have been no updates from Halo Studios since the announcement, which is unsurprising given the studio has just undergone a drastic change in direction.
However, according to a report from a known Halo insider,Rebs Gaming(thanks,Insider Gaming), Halo Studios is preparing to make a “big announcement” later this year.
Halo Studios is working on “multiple projects.” The progress on these projects is likely dependent on how long the studio has been using Unreal Engine 5 behind-the-scenes.
Rebs Gaming claims to have learned this while attending the Halo Championship Series in Dallas, a major Halo tournament recently won by Optic Gaming.
There are no specifics relating to this rumour. It’s not too surprising that Halo Studios might want to capitalise on the momentum of its rebrand by showing something Halo-related, even if it’s only a teaser trailer for the series' next mainline instalment.
Only time will tell if Halo Studios has something to show later this year, and how substantial it is.
