Halo Studios, previously known as 343 Industries, is rumoured to be far enough in working on a new Halo game that it has begun playtesting.
While the fact that multiple titles in the franchise are in development was already known courtesy of a report from October, the new rumours indicating that development of the titles has gotten far enough to allow for weekly playtesting.
According to a report by YouTuber Rebs Gaming, Halo Studios has set up a large playtesting area in its studio, where the games are being playtested on a weekly basis.
These playtests, along with being a way to continue development on new projects, is also a method of onboarding new hires with the rest of the team.
As part of these playtests, new maps are being developed and tested for a new Halo game. While playtesting games during development is fairly common practice for studios, the new area for playtesting is noteworthy since it indicates that Halo Studios is taking the design and testing of its next projects more seriously.