Insider: Next Halo Game Was Years Away From Completion

Last week's major Xbox restructuring caused quite a stir among many fans: Ninja Theory shut down, and the Halo series moved away from Microsoft's own studio. Now, the first concrete insider information is emerging about what was actually happening internally at Halo Studios. According to reports, including those from The Verge, the studio's next Halo game was still years away from completion – and this is said to have been one reason why Microsoft effectively pulled the plug on the team.

For context: The general Xbox restructuring was already known – in our report on the Ninja Theory closure and community reactions to the Xbox overhaul, we had already extensively covered the announcement of the Halo series being handed over to Activision. What's new now are the insider details about what went wrong internally at Halo Studios in the months leading up to this – and these paint a much clearer picture of why Microsoft took such drastic action.

How far was the next Halo game really from completion?

According to an anonymous insider cited by Verge editor Tom Warren – a long-time and well-connected Xbox observer – the internal Halo Studios team had been struggling with problems for some time: constant leadership changes, a technical upheaval due to the parallel transition to the Unreal Engine, and repeated waves of layoffs are said to have repeatedly set back the next, proprietary Halo project. The result, according to insiders: The game was still years away from release. YouTuber Rebs Gaming, who specializes in Halo insider knowledge and whose sources have often been accurate in the past, also reports in a similar vein.

What does the handover to Activision mean for Halo fans now?

Instead of continuing to fund the long-running project, Microsoft apparently made short work of it: Halo Studios was downsized to a small core of around 30 employees. Their task is now solely support operations – meaning updates and maintenance for Halo Infinite and the upcoming Halo: Campaign Evolved. The development of the next major Halo game is now entirely with Activision, which, according to reports, is setting up a completely new, dedicated team for this – separate from the Call of Duty team. Xbox itself confirmed the restructuring in its own blog post titled “Continuing Our Reset”.

Our assessment: If the insider reports are confirmed, the decision seems harsh but understandable. Leaving such an important franchise in limbo for years with an unfinished successor project would likely have harmed Microsoft more in the long run than the current, drastic cut. For the remaining approximately 30 people at Halo Studios, the new role as a pure support team will likely still be a bitter pill to swallow.

This is not the only insider report currently causing discussion in the Xbox community: Just recently, a rumor circulated that Starfield 2 might never be released, according to a former developer.

Source: PC Gamer

What do you think: Was the radical overhaul at Halo Studios overdue, or is the series losing its soul with this move? Let us know in the comments – we're eager to hear your opinion!