Upcoming Halo Game to Use Unreal Engine 5

Since last year, the rumors surrounding 343 Industries have all come true. It was widely spread that the developers of Halo made the transfer to Unreal Engine, which would also affect the upcoming Halo project and, of course, the PlayStation 5 version.

One of the most surprising announcements was that 343 Industries is now known as Halo Studios. Essentially, they call this a fresh start, a reset, and due to their ongoing multiple development projects, they are ramping up their recruiting operations.

Halo's "A New Dawn" footage published by 343 Industries last week confirmed that they are indeed using Unreal Engine 5 instead of their old Blam Engine (Halo Engine), Bungie's in-house proprietary engine. Among their numerous justifications for this switch, one of them was that developing a game is more challenging than working on an engine simultaneously.

You might recall this when Slipspace Engine was used to develop Helo Infite. While Halo Infinite wasn't quite a work of art, it did a remarkable job at improving upon the initial gameplay reveal and reestablishing their reputation for top-tier visuals, just like their previous releases.

Previously, it was reported that Microsoft was planning to remaster or rebuild the original Halo game and release it on PS5. Even though many Halo fans never had the chance to play the original Xbox or 360 game because they didn't own the console, they would definitely give it a shot on the PlayStation 5 with its superior visuals.

Although the A New Dawn clip that we saw wasn't from an upcoming Helo project, it only glimpsed into the forthcoming Halo games. The scenery is rather dazzling, but Master Chief still seems like an action figure. One of the main reasons they're likely switching to this engine is how much easier it is to adapt their games to PlayStation 5. While some fans criticized Master Chief's new look, it's unwise to judge early on the end result based on the team's early experimentation with Unreal Engine 5.

We're curious to see how the game turns out once the developers have a better grasp of the engine and perhaps even enlist aid from other studios working for Xbox Game Studios, who have experience with Unreal Engine 5. For instance, Ninja Theory recently published Senua's Saga: Hellblade II, which was entirely made using Unreal Engine 5, and perhaps from The Coalition as well, who are currently working on Gears of War: E-Day using the same engine, which the best-revealed game of 2024 Xbox Games Showcase.

Part of what makes the statement from Halo Studios devs so exciting is the possibility that they will be able to hire individuals with experience with UE5, which might lead to either faster production times or higher overall quality rather than continuously tweaking the engine as the game is being made.

Here are some captures from the A New Dawn clip:

Halo hasn't been quite as successful as it once was, but the developers would prefer you remember the series and its previous glory. Besides, there hasn't been any new update on a new Halo game since Halo Infinite in 2021. But there's still much that remains unproven. Halo's success is good for the gaming industry because it's a game that should never die. The new Halo Studios will undoubtedly be working toward releasing the next major Xbox game on the latest console in a few years.