Halo Infinite Reportedly Scrapped New Story Content Amid Studio Shakeup

ign.com:

Halo is reportedly staying at 343 Industries, but the franchise's direction is unclear amidst layoffs and a pivot away from Halo's Slipspace engine.

In a report from Bloomberg's Jason Schreier, the studio's leadership overhaul, mass layoffs, and other big changes are causing 343 to essentially hit the reset button on the franchise. The report also claims that at least 95 people were laid off from 343 as a part of this month's mass layoffs at Microsoft, and that 343 was not working on new missions for Halo Infinite's story over the last year.

After the layoffs, rumors started circulating claiming that Microsoft could pass Halo development to another studio entirely. According to today's report, Halo is staying put, despite concerns over the studio's ability to develop new Halo games after the big hit to the staff.

The report lines up with 343's statement that "Halo and Master Chief are here to stay", and Phil Spencer saying that 343 remains "critically important" to the success of Halo. According to the report, Matt Booty, head of Xbox Game Studios, has assured 343's staff that they're still in charge, even as the studio works with outside partners.

However, it would seem that big changes are still in store for the franchise. Namely, Halo is said to be pivoting to Unreal Engine, leaving the controversial Slipspace engine behind. Development challenges posed by Slipspace are reportedly holding back two Infinite multiplayer modes that are nearly finished: Extraction and Assault.

The reports of the engine swap come after years of rumors surrounding 343, Slipspace, and Unreal Engine. The pivot will reportedly begin with the Halo project codenamed Tatanka, which has been rumored for quite some time. This game is in co-development