By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close
Ryuu96 on 31 January 2023
Edit Thread

To sum up.

  • 343 is essentially rebooting/starting from scratch.
  • Major leadership change recently led employees to brace for reorganization.
  • At least 95 laid off, 343 still heavily relied upon contractors.
  • Slipspace is buggy, difficult to use, a source of headaches.
  • Several multiplayer modes for Infinite are nearly finished but haven't yet been released due to issues with Slipspace.
  • 343 has considered switching to Unreal Engine multiple times in the past.
  • Pierre made the decision to switch to Unreal Engine once he took over late last year.
  • The switch starts with Tatanka, developed by 343i and Certain Affinity, it started as a Battle Royale but now may "evolve in different directions"
  • Future Halo titles will explore using Unreal Engine, may make development easier but worry that it could negatively impact the "feel" of Halo.
  • 343 was never working on story content for Infinite. They were only pitching ideas for new Halo titles in Unreal Engine.
  • 343 isn't actively working on story content right now.

Concerns:

  • How Halo "feels" on Unreal Engine.
  • How Forge will work on it.
  • Unreal Engine isn't known as being the best for open world titles but UE5 is making efforts to improve that.

Pros

  • Unreal Engine is a far superior engine to Slipspace.
  • Contractor problem will significantly lessen as everyone in the industry has experience with Unreal Engine.
  • Development will be a lot smoother and better provided they can get Forge and nail the "feeling" down with little issue.

Two of 343's reportedly major issues (Slipspace/Contractors) are now dealt with by moving to Unreal Engine.

Would have preferred for them to just staff up, open another studio, but this fixes the issue too...

What it looks like is happening...

  1. 343 will focus on supporting Infinite in the short term, Slipspace is still proving difficult there though.
  2. Tatanka will be a test bed for how Halo "feels" on Unreal Engine.
  3. Halo Infinite support likely dies shortly before Tatanka or shortly after after they transition fully over to Unreal Engine and kill Slipspace.
  4. If successful, they will build from that, once the "feel" is nailed, I believe they'll begin a mainline Halo (Campaign/Multiplayer).

Typical for Halo development, the Multiplayer is built first, as Halo is a gameplay first franchise, as such them focusing on Multiplayer in the short term makes sense from both a financial and development standpoint and Pierre can't magic Halo titles out of thin air if there's none in development. Switching to Unreal Engine is a big change that needs time.