343’s misfortune began with their remaster of Halo: Combat Evolved, the first game of the series. New graphics and lighting left the atmosphere of the game feeling flat, especially on missions such as “The Library” where the dark, gloomy feel of Bungie’s original graphics added much to the playing experience. Subsequent releases, Halo 4 and 5, radically changed gameplay dynamics, art style and music, which fans did not take kindly to. For context, Bungie’s Halo 3 had around 1.1 million regular players a year after release, 343’s Halo 4 had 20,000. Halo Infinite, designed to restore the fanbase’s faith, returned to the franchises' roots, with classic art styles and music, but completely backfired. The rushed release, combined with the poor performance of 343’s ‘Slipspace Engine’ left Infinite as a buggy mess. Change was desperately needed.
Microsoft, who own Halo and 343 (now Halo Studios), have since announced major changes to the way the franchise is managed. Described as “changing the recipe for how we make Halo” by the games’ Twitter account, an announcement on the 7th October revealed that all future games would use Unreal Engine, which powers popular games such as Fortnite and Dead by Daylight. Brand new cinematics developed using Unreal came with the announcement, and were received well by fans, with the impressive lighting clearly appearing a level above those seen under the Slipspace Engine. Furthermore, these cinematics teased the return of The Flood – a popular zombie-like enemy not seen in a mainline Halo game since 2007.
With “multiple projects” now in development, potentially including a highly-speculated Combat Evolved remake, 343 has rebranded to Halo Studios, and will no doubt be hoping to turn over a new leaf. Three rounds of layoffs and a complete reshuffle of the studio leadership team mean that the team in charge of Halo Infinite’s disastrous launch have largely been replaced. Chief Operating Officer Elizabeth Van Wyck, appointed in 2022 following criticism of Halo Infinite, assured fans that “we can bring Halo forward in ways that we’ve never seen before whilst still being true to what Halo is”. Newly-appointed Studio Art Director Chris Matthews was similarly optimistic, stating that “Unreal affords us more opportunity than we’ve ever had in the past. Clearly, there is a new optimism around the franchise, which the new team will likely be hopeful carries through to the fanbase.
A decade of decline has left the franchise in dire need of a renaissance.
Halo is a titan in gaming history. It's groundbreaking story, graphics and mechanics set a standard for what video games could be. Halo CE and Halo 2, released in 2001 and 2004 respectively, still feel spectacular today. However, a decade of decline has left the franchise in dire need of a renaissance. While the rebranding of 343 and the switch to Unreal Engine are undoubtedly positive developments, whether Halo can reach the heights it once ruled over remains to be seen.