Halo Could Be Shifting To Unreal Engine 5

Halo is one of the biggest franchises in the world of gaming. The series has become a staple of Microsofts flagship Xbox consoles and has been around for decades now. But, the recent history of this great franchise does have a few hitches. 

Its most recent game in the series, Halo: Infinite was a huge letdown for the fans of the franchise after release. Players criticized a lot of things from the lack of content and progression system even though the story got high praise. Things got so bad that Halo: The Master Chief Collection passed it at one point in Twitch viewers.

But, it has made a return to form recently with the new Forge mode attracting a lot of players. Doubts about the making of Halo: Infinite still linger though, as one developer on the game criticized the tools used. Now, there might be a permanent change coming to the development of Halo.

Major Takeaways:

• Halo might be switching to Unreal Engine 5.
• ACG says this switch is happening for sure.
• Nothing certain at this point this is just a rumor.

343 Industries might be switching up their development engine to the in-trend Unreal Engine 5 for Halo. A new report from industry insider Jeremy Penter tells us that this change is happening. Hence, the Halo team is ditching their Slipspace Engine for Unreal 5. 

I can only confirm that many sources are saying this and very clear that it's already been decided and Halo is for sure switching to Unreal.
I feel like it's time for other switches behind the scenes including people leaving and their past problems.

Unreal is a great choice. https://t.co/8KxMqREWIk

— ACG (@JeremyPenter) October 2, 2022

First, we heard of this when Certain Affinity Tweeted about their partnership with Halo. The game developer posted several job listings which hinted at the use of Unreal Engine 5. Some of these jobs required “In-depth knowledge of the Unreal engine” for new technology and much more. 

We’ve been part of the @Halo franchise for more than 15 years and we’re honored to say we are deepening our relationship with 343 and have been entrusted with further evolving Halo Infinite in some new and exciting ways. Join us on our journey. https://t.co/fApGobYZS3 pic.twitter.com/XSuS7EtLcq

— Certain Affinity (@CertainAffinity) April 12, 2022

But, nothing was sure and this could have been just a precaution from Halo. If they wanted to make the change in the future, having people with knowledge of the system would certainly help a lot. An insider like ACG corroborating it, however, makes this story seem a little more legit. 

Even now it is still a rumor and you should certainly take it with a grain of salt. But, the rumors coupled with the job listings do present some pretty good evidence in favor of this. ACG was wrong about Assassins Creed so it is still uncertain if Halo will make this switch. 

With the number of developers switching to Unreal Engine 5 this does seem like a logical move. Epics engine is one of the best tools for developers right now. So, one of the biggest franchises in the world getting on this bandwagon is not nonsensical. 

Hopefully, we get a clear announcement from 343 Industries about this. But whatever happens, the next Halo game will look more promising with Unreal Engine 5.