A new report from insider RebsGaming claims that Halo Studios is increasingly relying on outsourced development for its future projects, following heavy use of external studios on the recently launched Halo: Campaign Evolved, as well as the canceled multiplayer game codenamed Project Ekur. According to the report, this strategy traces back to comments from Halo Studios head Pierre Hintze, who developers reportedly said intended to outsource as much development as possible. Hintze was also recently the subject of claims of mismanagement and harassment. RebsGaming says the credits for Halo: Campaign Evolved confirm that all areas of development were outsourced across […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/halo-studios-outsourced-campaign-evolved-15-studios-activision-sledgehammer/

Shortly after the launch of Halo: Campaign Evolved, a few developers shared on LinkedIn that they had been laid off, sparking fears of another round of layoffs at developer Halo Studios. The studio once known as 343 Industries came unscathed out of the latest round of mass Xbox layoffs, but that could change quickly, especially since the game's early reception hasn't been great. However, GamesBeat's Dean Takahashi reported that there haven't been any internal job cuts and that those people were external contractors. The source said: No layoffs have occurred at Halo Studios. There are often external contractor shifts that […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/halo-studios-contractors-campaign-evolved-xbox-fy27-job-cuts/

Halo Studios – and the IP as a whole – have been in a bit of a state of limbo ever since 2021’s Halo Infinite failed to become the decade-long juggernaut that Microsoft was hoping it would become. Going back to the drawing board, the team announced that they were remaking the OG Halo: Combat Evolved. Officially launching last week to a somewhat mixed reception, one insider has now revealed the myriad of issues encountered during the development of Halo: Campaign Evolved.

As reported by known industry insider Rebs Gaming, Halo: Campaign Evolved’s development was far from smooth, with some of the game’s biggest criticisms seemingly being as a result of said issues.

According to fans, one of the most notable downgrades with the remake is in its cutscenes – due to its pre-rendered nature alongside overall weak cinematography, direction and animations.

As claimed by Rebs, these cutscenes were initially intended to be real-time in nature. However, due to issues with their use of contractors, strict timelines and a change of support studios, they ultimately went the pre-rendered route.

Full details on the different ways in which Halo: Campaign Evolved’s development suffered can be found HERE. According to Rebs however, a majority of the blame should be put on Halo Studios leadership and their decision-making.

Of course, this is far from the only Halo game to suffer under 343 Industries (now Halo Studios), with Project Tatanka – later changed to project Ekur – ultimately being cancelled after years of development.

Regardless, with Campaign Evolved seemingly teasing that a remake of Halo 2 is next in line, here’s to hoping that the sequel proves to have a far smoother time during development. We will have to wait and see.

KitGuru says: What do you think of Halo Campaign Evolved? Does it stay faithful to the original in your opinion? Do you want them to work on Halo 2 and 3 remakes or not? Let us know down below.

After years of waiting, anticipation and tons of promises, Halo Infinite would ultimately prove to be somewhat of a disappointment upon its arrival in 2021; with the latest entry in the series feeling incomplete. Going back to the drawing board, 343 Industries would then transform itself into Halo Studios – announcing a campaign remake of Halo: Combat Evolved. Officially launching last week, the game has been met with a somewhat mixed reception.

Launching to a Metacritic score of 80, Halo: Campaign Evolved is one of the lowest-rated entries in the series, falling far below Bungie’s offerings and even failing to match the highs of Infinite (which managed a Metacritic score of 87). That said, general sentiment appears to place it as one of the better ways to experience the original Halo in today’s age.

Players on the other hand have been far more critical, currently sitting at a 5.7 on Metacritic; a ‘Mixed’ reception on Steam; an overall score of 3.9 out of 5 on PlayStation and 3 out of 5 stars on Xbox.

Some of the criticism towards the remake include its newly recorded dialogue (some of which in players’ ears sounds inferior to the original); the mechanical changes (such as the removal of health kits) and the alterations made to enemy AI, making this feel less like a 1:1 recreation of the original classic.

As is the case with all Xbox titles, we have not gotten any sales data for Campaign Evolved. According to industry analyst Mat Piscatella however, the day of Halo: Campaign Evolved's launch saw 8% of total active Xbox players checking out the game; 2% of Steam players and just 1% of active PS5 players. Of course, active players are constantly fluctuating and so these metrics can’t be taken as the absolute truth – especially since this only accounts for those in the US.

Still, it appears as though Halo: Campaign Evolved has not resonated too much with players – old and new alike. It will be interesting to see whether this affects Microsoft's decision to remake the entire trilogy.

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KitGuru says: What do you think of Halo: Campaign Evolved? Is it an evolution over the original? What’s the most important part of a faithful remake? Let us know down below.

Over the past month or so, a couple of different sources have leaked that a Destiny-style Halo MMO may be quietly in development at Halo Studios. The original leak was posted by Reddit user HTD_Blog, who shared the following information based on a friend with knowledge of the project: For about 1-2 years, Microsoft have been tinkering with the idea of a Halo MMO in the vein of Destiny 2. It is very much in the idea stage, although a small amount of development has occurred to get a feel for gameplay. It has yet to be approved as a […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/destiny-like-halo-mmo-leaks-backed-by-pierre-hintze-interview/

Prior to the recent upheaval of Microsoft’s various Xbox Games Studios, we had been hearing leaks regarding the future of Halo and Master Chief, with one in-development project – known as Ekur – seemingly being on the chopping block. Though never officially announced, additional insiders have now spoken out on the project, corroborating claims that Ekur has been cancelled.

For a while now, we had been hearing leaks and rumours surrounding Project Tatanka – reportedly a “a new separate PVP game co-developed by 343 Industries and Certain Affinity in the SlipSpace Engine.”

Since then, a lot has happened, with the same source (Rebs Gaming) later claiming that Tatanka was transformed into an extraction shooter under the project name Ekur.

This too however ran into some issues, with Rebs then stating that it had evolved once again, this time turning into a “super big-team-battle” type of experience running on Unreal Engine 5 under the direct control of Halo Studios (no longer involving Certain Affinity).

Given all of the back-and-forth with Project Tatanka (later Ekur), it perhaps does not come as a surprise that the game has now reportedly been cancelled, with known Microsoft insider Jez Corden claiming: “Rebs reported that Halo Studios was working on a multiplayer title known as Project Ekur, which was cancelled. I've verified that as 100% true.”

As mentioned, Project Ekur had encountered plenty of issues and setbacks even before the latest suite of Microsoft lay-offs and so it isn’t too surprising to see it ultimately being cancelled. Given how long it had been in various stages of development however, it will be interesting to see how this impacts Halo Studios moving forward.

KitGuru says: Were you excited for Project Tatanka? What about Ekur? What do you think is next for Halo after Campaign Evolved releases? Let us know down below.

Halo: Campaign Evolved marks the grand return of Master Chief and co. following the less-than-stellar release of Halo Infinite back in 2021. Of course, CE is set to be a campaign-only affair, with no PvP multiplayer in sight. That said, there have been plenty of rumours discussing Halo’s next mainline release. One such title is ‘Project Ekur’ – a Battle Royale which was later turned into an extraction shooter. Thanks to new reports, we have gotten a clearer picture on what to expect.

As shared by known Halo leaker Rebs Gaming (who accurately detailed Halo Campaign Evolved prior to its announcement), Project Ekur has undergone some pretty big changes since it was last reported. For the uninitiated, Project Ekur was initially known as Project Tatanka and was set to be a Battle Royale experience. Since then, the game evolved and shifted into an extraction shooter of sorts, being developed by Certain Affinity.

According to Rebs, the game has once again changed, with Ekur now switching out Infinite’s SlipSpace Engine for the much more ubiquitous Unreal Engine 5 – with this transfer being completed as of September 2023.

Beyond this, Ekur is now no longer an Extraction Shooter, with the project said to be taking the form of a “super big-team-battle idea” instead. Players will spawn in, “explore the map, find resources and battle other teams”. Though it does still feature some extraction elements, the game will feel more closer to that of Halo 5’s Warzone mode.

Perhaps the biggest piece of news however came in the revelation that Certain Affinity is no longer the team behind Project Ekur, with Halo Studios themselves now taking over responsibilities following the prototype shared by Certain Affinity.

All in all, it seems as though Project Ekur has gone through a ton of testing and prototyping. What the final product will wind up looking like, we will have to wait and see. Regardless, here’s to hoping that the team in charge have settled on a formula which works for both old-school Halo fans as well as new players.

KitGuru says: What do you think of Project Ekur so far? Which iteration of the game sounded the most fun to you? Will Ekur be released on PlayStation? Let us know your thoughts down below.

[Update - June 11, 5:00 PM EST] Although Halo: Campaign Evolved is set to be quite demanding at Ultra settings, a new early look from Digital Foundry suggests the game can run well on a variety of systems, including handhelds like the Xbox ROG Ally X. Original story follows. [Original Story] The skepticism surrounding Halo: Campaign Evolved for its ditching of the Slipspace Engine in favor of the Unreal Engine 5 for its return to PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S seems to have been well-founded, as an NVIDIA RTX 5090 GPU, the best consumer GPU available, doesn't hit […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/halo-campaign-evolved-stumbles-unreal-engine-5-rtx-5090/

In recent weeks there have been several Halo leaks. First, we heard that the Halo 1 Remake would contain some new missions and enemy types not previously seen in the first game. Then, we heard that Halo 2 and Halo 3 remakes are supposedly in the works. Now, we've got our first rumours about the next mainline Halo game. 

Despite campaign remakes and a multiplayer spin-off being the closest new Halo projects, the team at Halo Studios is also actively working on the next mainline game. According to Rebs Gaming, Joe Staten recently held a meeting at Halo Studios to discuss the future direction for the story, indicating plans to focus on The Endless and new enemy types, rather than go for an easy win like bringing back The Flood.

The YouTuber also points to a new job listing at Halo Studios. The company is now seeking a Narrative Design Director to work on what it refers to as Halo Next. The codename clearly indicates that the next mainline Halo game, the sequel to Halo Infinite, is in the works.

It is entirely unclear when the next mainline Halo game will actually release. Microsoft is currently gearing up for its next-generation console, codenamed Project Helix, with rumours pointing to a 2027 launch. That means the next mainline Halo game may not be ready for the launch window, but it should still land within the first couple of years of the console's lifecycle. Insider Gaming reports that the game has been in development since 2022.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: It has been almost five years since Halo Infinite, so it is about time we started hearing whispers about a new mainline game. 

Halo leaker RebsGaming reports that Halo Studios is already working on remakes for the second and third installments in the sci-fi first-person shooter franchise. Halo 2 and Halo 3 are currently in early development, presumably powered by Unreal Engine 5 like the first game's remake; this builds on a previous claim from a former Halo Studios developer, and is now backed by two additional sources, one of whom provided verification to RebsGaming and confirmed the trilogy remakes will proceed regardless of how well the upcoming Halo: Campaign Evolved performs. A separate source (the same one who leaked an unreleased Campaign […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/halo-2-halo-3-unreal-engine-5-remakes-reportedly-in-development/

While Halo Infinite may not have been the grand revival that Microsoft were hoping for the franchise, series co-developer Certain Affinity looked to be prepping to offer their own take on the franchise with a battle royale game. Ultimately this project never came to be, with reports claiming back in 2024 that the BR title had been cancelled. It appears rumours of the game’s death were somewhat exaggerated however, with insiders now claiming that the team pivoted and reworked the Battle Royale title into an extraction shooter.

As reported by known Halo insider Rebs Gaming, new details surrounding the previously in-development Battle Royale (known as project Tatanka) have been shared, with the insider claiming that:

“Tatanka was not a game mode for Infinite that would have been added to the multiplayer playlist menu, but rather a new separate PVP game co-developed by 343 Industries and Certain Affinity in the SlipSpace Engine.”

According to Rebs, “battle royale games were falling out of favor” and so 343i/Certain Affinity “wanted to avoid chasing an oversaturated genre”. As a result, Project Tatanka was ultimately cancelled, being spun off into a new project: Ekur.

Though the current status of Ekur is unknown, the project is (or was) “a PVE extraction shooter” which was in development at least up until “the end of Summer 2023”.

Some sources claim that Ekur is slated to be the next multiplayer Halo entry, while others heard that it will instead be included as a new mode in the next Halo game.

Either way, according to Rebs, project Tatanka (now project Ekur) is still happening in one form or another.

KitGuru says: What do you think of this shift to an extraction shooter? Does Halo need to chase trends? Would you prefer a Halo Battle Royale or Extraction Shooter? Let us know down below.

We've been hearing rumors of Halo Studios looking to add a battle royale mode to the Halo franchise, either as a new individual title or as a game mode in a larger game, for years now. Whether it was actually the case or not, to players, the idea of a Halo battle royale always seemed like Xbox trying to chase one of the most popular genre trends in the video game industry. That seems to be the same thing driving the latest rumor about what's coming next from Halo Studios, which claims that the battle royale mode has pivoted to […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/halo-studios-rumored-battle-royale-mode-pivoted-to-extraction-shooter/