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This push towards "new" also includes a new philosophy at the studio.

Just before the final match at Sunday's 2024 Halo World Championship, Microsoft shared a surprise video concerning the future of the Halo franchise. Among the several things said and shown in the video were several test scenes of familiar locations and characters from Halo all displayed in Unreal Engine 5. Yes, the Slipspace engine is already being relegated to the trash bin.

Also notable...

New information shared by reliable leaker.

A source familiar with Halo and Halo development, BathrobeCast on Twitter, shared new information on the "state of 343 Industries." In a brief write-up on Twitter, BathrobeCast says that not only has 343 Industries been hugely downsized but that they are now mostly overseeing development done by outside studios.

In short, BathrobeCast says that there are now fewer than 280 employees at 343 Industries. This figure comes...

A sizable multiplayer update is out now for Halo Infinite.

A decently sized update just rolled out for Halo Infinite multiplayer today. First and foremost is the addition of Squad Battles. This new mode is like the old Big Team Battle mode of yesteryear. It's an 8v8 mode that includes Slayer and Objective modes in one playlist.

Squad Battle is placed snuggly between the 4v4 modes and the larger 12v12 battles that were already in Infinite. The Squad Battle matches are played...

O'Connor worked on Halo since 2004.

A Microsoft spokesperson confirmed that Halo's franchise director, Frank O'Connor, has left Microsoft. The confirmation from Microsoft comes shortly after initial reporting from Windows Central where they noted that O'Connor's LinkedIn page showed he was no longer working at Microsoft or 343 Industries.

Microsoft's statement about O'Connor's departure was very short. They say, "We thank Frank for his numerous contributions to the...

Staten will lead development on a new "AAA multi-platform game."

On April 8, 2023, news about Joseph Staten parting ways from Microsoft made its way around the Internet. Staten served as the creative lead on Halo Infinite and was the cinematic director on the first three Halo titles from Bungie. At the time, Staten said that he would have "more info to share soon."

True to his word, Staten's immediate future was revealed today. Taking once more to Twitter,...

He was the head of creative on Halo Infinite and cinematic director for first three games.

It's the end of an era this weekend as Joseph Staten is leaving Microsoft. Staten was the head of creative on Halo Infinite and was also the cinematic director on the first three Halo titles. Microsoft confirmed this news on Friday, April 7, 2023.

Microsoft's statement to the public, via IGN, about Staten's departure did not indicate where he may be headed next. There was also no...

Halo is staying with 343 Industries, but there are big changes coming.

After Microsoft announced plans to layoff 10,000 employees, many of which are coming from Xbox studios, the fate of the Halo franchise lingered in limbo. It was initially rumored that main Halo developer, 343 Industries, would be made into a support studio and that other studios would take on main development of future Halo titles.

343 Industries had to make a statement that refutes those claims. In...

Employees across several Microsoft owned studios were just let go from the company.

Microsoft announced plans to layoff 10,000 employees, a decision that CEO Satya Nadella calls "difficult but necessary." A statement issued to employees, made public by Microsoft, does not go into detail just how many departments are being impacted. However, we do know that the Xbox division at Microsoft did not come away unscathed.

Several studios under Xbox were impacted by...

343 delivered a nice holiday gift to fans.

The December update for Halo Infinite just dropped and wow is it ever a good one. This update offers up a bunch of new features, a custom game browser, some free cosmetic items, a new map, and several improvements for all available platforms. Best of all, this update is free to everyone.

Today's update includes the addition of the Custom Game Browser. This will let you start and join custom games using any map or mode combination....

The newly released update also includes the Forge Beta, mission replay, and more.

The WInter Update for Halo Infinite dropped today and with it has come some highly anticipated features that many fans say should have been included at launch. New features added to the game today include online co-op, the ability to replay missions, the Forge Beta, and other content that developer 343 Industries say is free to all players.

Online co-op will allow for you and up to three...

343 outlines proposed changes for the Winter update.

Halo Infinite's multiplayer has a lot of problems. From the lack of content, to server stability, to the absolutely awful experience system. Thankfully, 343 Industries will tackle at least one of those issues with the upcoming Winter Update. Sure, 343 Industries did a bit of tweaking to this system in the past, but it really wasn't enough.

When the Winter Update drops on November 8, Halo Infinite players will get to...

Ross will be replaced by Pierre Hintze as the new studio lead.

Bonnie Ross announced her retirement today, citing "a family medical issue" as the main reason for her departure. Ross has been the lead at 343 Industries and the Halo franchise for the past 15 years, having worked at Microsoft and Xbox for 28 years.

In her Twitter post, Ross says she originally intended to leave following the Winter update's release for Halo Infinite. She also says that she is "incredibly...

343's handling of the Halo franchise has left a lot of fans very angry.

343 Industries released the latest roadmap for Halo Infinite today and the news is not exactly great. The roadmap showcases multiple delays, a small amount of new content, and even the outright cancellation of an anticipated feature. The ever shrinking fanbase for Halo Infinite's multiplayer have not taken too kindly to any of this.

Right now in Halo Infinite, the second season has been underway since...

Better start making some friends.

The online campaign co-op feature for Halo Infinite will not feature online matchmaking. This is for both the current beta phase and the final public release.

This news was confirmed by an Xbox representative to GamesRadar. In short, if you aren't planning on playing with friends, you better hope you can find a good looking for group (LFG) Discord server or something.

Here is the full statement that was shared with GamesR...

Those with data caps, you may want to stop playing until a fix is implemented.

If you are still enjoying Halo Infinite's multiplayer mode, you may be upset to hear that something has gone terribly awry with how the menus download and cache data. Or rather in this case: How that data is not cached.

Twitter user @NicmeistaR seems to have discovered that Halo Infinite was downloading a lot of data. He saw that just one match of Halo Infinite multiplayer ate up "305mb" of...