The recent reports from behind the scenes at 343 Industries paint a picture that’s not quite rosy. The studio behind Halo has reportedly gone through a wave of layoffs, resulting in the loss of nearly a hundred employees, including important developers and veterans on contract. The remaining team is now starting from scratch, as per reliable sources from Bloomberg agency.
The rumors about the studio’s future have been circulating for a while now, with some speculating that other studios will be taking over the development of the popular shooter franchise.
However, the head of 343 Industries has denied these reports and confirmed that the company will continue to manage the development of Halo, even if they have to rely on more subcontractors.
In addition to the personnel changes, there are also shifts happening in the technology department. 343 Industries has abandoned the development of its proprietary Slipspace engine, which dates back to the 1990s, in favor of Unreal Engine. This decision, which has been considered many times in the past, was finally made late last year.
There’s also a new project in the works, codenamed Tatanka, which is being supported by the Certain Affinity team from Texas.
The project started out as a battle royale, but it may eventually take on a completely different direction. Jason Schreier, citing anonymous sources within 343 Industries, has provided this information.
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While some developers have expressed concern about Unreal Engine’s ability to recreate the iconic shooting model that Halo is famous for, others reportedly prefer to experiment with new ideas using the engine, rather than deal with the support for Halo Infinite on the old engine. This has reportedly resulted in the cancellation of the planned feature DLC for the game.
