Game news Xbox’s flagship game would be preparing for heavy sacrifices
Published on 02/03/2023 at 11:37
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The reorganization that affects 343 Industries, the studio responsible for the Halo license since the departure of Bungie, could well lead to big changes. According to Bloomberg, the studio that deals with Master Chief has pressed the “reset” button.
On January 20, we informed you that the wave of layoffs that affected Microsoft had particularly hit 343 Industries. Bloomberg returned to the consequences of this reorganization which would have serious consequences on Microsoft’s flagship license. As a reminder, these dismissals follow a series of voluntary departures of some of the executives of 343 Industries with Chris Lee (director of Halo Infinite), David Berger (responsible for the Slipspace Engine), Nicolas Bouvier (artistic director of the game) and Bonnie Ross (founder of the studio).
Summary
Goodbye Solo DLCGoodbye Slipspace Engine
Goodbye singleplayer DLCs
According to Jason Schreier, at least 95 employees have been laid off. Among them are many responsible for solo content. The article confirms what some rumors implied, namely thatno single-player content and no campaign DLC is said to be in development. Several people would have worked on prototypes and pitches on how to continue the adventures of the famous Spartan, but the new head of the studio, Pierre Hintze, would have indeed decided to focus only on multiplayer.
The question that burns the lips of fans is that related to the tracks that could be considered to continue the story of Master Chief. Although in an official communication, 343 Industries assured that its teams will continue “to develop Halo today and in the future”, the possibility of lending the license to other studios is more relevant than ever. The partnership track is alluded to in the article, as Certain Affinity would aid in the development of content codenamed “Tatanka,” a Battle Royale set in the Halo universe that could ultimately be bigger than planned.
Goodbye Slipspace Engine
The other important point is that the new parents of Halo since leaving Bungie would separate from the Slipspace Engine, the engine of Halo Infinite. According to Bloomberg, this engine “full of bugs and complicated to use” because it is based on code “dating back to the 1990s and 2000s” would be the cause of many frustrations within the creative teams of 343 Industries. Faced with the remonstrances of his employees, Pierre Hintze would have decided to sacrifice the Slipspace Engine in favor of the Unreal Engine, one of the most used engines in the world of video games.. According to Jason Schreier, the famous Tatanka project should already run under Unreal Engine. Although Epic’s engine is known to developers, the supposed transition for the moment worries some fans. Will the Halo feeling still be there on an engine like Unreal?
Although the Bloomberg article raises many questions about how 343 Industries and Microsoft are handling the Halo license, perhaps we should see the positive side of this engine change if the news is true: imposing an in-house engine that the artists hate to use, it is necessarily counterproductive. We are now awaiting official information from the American giant, which for the moment has contented itself with stating that Halo is vital for the Xbox.
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About Halo Infinite
