The future of Halo is being built with Unreal Engine 5

Microsoft is moving its Halo development to Unreal Engine 5, aft much than a twelvemonth of rumors of an motor power pursuing a leadership overhaul astatine 343 Industries, layoffs, and different changes. 343 Industries is present becoming Halo Studios arsenic portion of this motor alteration announcement, hoping to people a caller section successful the past of Halo.

Halo moving to Unreal Engine 5 is being positioned arsenic the archetypal measurement of a translation for Halo Studios to alteration its technology, structure, processes, and adjacent culture. “We’re not conscionable going to effort amended the ratio of development, but alteration the look of however we marque Halo games,” says Pierre Hintze, workplace head at Halo Studios.

The squad gathering Halo will determination from the studio’s Slipspace Engine to Unreal, aft the proprietary motor it built for Halo Infinite became hard to usage and strained development. Halo Studios has had to dedicate a batch of unit to processing the Slipspace Engine, and parts of it are astir 25 years old.

“One of the superior things we’re funny successful is increasing and expanding our satellite truthful players person much to interact with and much to experience,” says Chris Matthews, creation manager astatine Halo Studios. “Nanite and Lumen [Unreal’s rendering and lighting technologies] connection america an accidental to bash that successful a mode that the manufacture hasn’t seen before. As artists, it’s incredibly breathtaking to bash that work.”

Halo Studios isn’t committing to immoderate merchandise dates oregon caller Halo game announcements conscionable yet, but the squad has been gathering immoderate examples of Halo running successful Unreal. Dubbed Project Foundry, the enactment is “neither a crippled nor a tech demo,” but much of a research, development, and grooming tool. It’s besides the instauration for however the workplace is changing up the mode it builds Halo games.

Project Foundry has been built arsenic if it was a shipping crippled truthful that a clump of it tin look successful Halo games successful the future. “It’s just to accidental that our intent is that the bulk of what we showcased successful Foundry is expected to beryllium successful projects which we are building, oregon aboriginal projects,” says Hintze.

Project Foundry includes much elaborate landscapes for Halo biomes, arsenic good arsenic foliage levels we haven’t seen successful Halo games successful the past. Master Chief’s armor has adjacent been remodeled successful this footage, months aft I exclusively revealed successful Notepad that Microsoft was moving connected immoderate signifier of a Halo: Combat Evolved remaster.

Halo Studios is present moving connected aggregate Halo games, portion the Slipstream Engine volition proceed to powerfulness Halo Infinite. “We had a disproportionate absorption connected trying to make the conditions to beryllium palmy successful servicing Halo Infinite,” says Hintze. “[But switching to Unreal] allows america to enactment each the absorption connected making aggregate caller experiences astatine the highest prime possible.”