The Halo franchise has endured a tumultuous decade under the stewardship of 343 Industries – the studio purpose-built to shepherd the series forward in the wake of Bungie’s split with Microsoft. While 343 has delivered new Halo entries and remasters, it’s fair to say that it’s been a bumpy ride, culminating in a late launch for Halo Infinite and questions surrounding the game’s content and delivery. Things are changing, however. Radically so, perhaps. 343 Industries is now Halo Studio, while 343’s bespoke Slipspace engine is giving way to Unreal Engine 5. A ‘Project Foundry’ demo gives us some idea of the ambition ahead – and we’re optimistic.
It’s the shift to Unreal Engine 5 that has really caught our attention as the series has used its own technology for decades. Indeed, it’s said that some code within the existing Slipspace technology is up to 25 years old, dating it to the development of the original Halo: Combat Evolved for OG Xbox – so we can perhaps expect a seismic shift in presentation and development.
Perhaps that is for the best. Slipspace debuted in spectacular fashion with the initial Halo Infinite engine trailer, with legitimate questions about how the technology would scale over Xbox One and Xbox Series generations. 343 delivered on cross-gen, but it’s safe to say that the full scope of the original vision didn’t make it to the final game – indeed, only one of the demonstrated biomes made it to the shipping game.
By shifting to Unreal Engine 5, Halo Studio benefits in a number of ways. It has access to a state-of-the-art current generation renderer that scales to whatever hardware is demanded of it. It also has access to the incredible work on the engine carried out by partner studio, The Coalition, one of the acknowledged masters of the technology. And that will be needed, bearing in mind the many troubles the engine has – particularly on the PC side. Limitations of Slipspace – such as unconvincing indirect lighting, shadow quality and level of detail could and should be solved by UE5’s Lumen and Nanite. There are production advantages too. Microsoft’s controversial approach to contract workers is challenging when working with custom engines, while familiarity with UE5 should come with the territory at this point.