Microsoft’s Halo development team, 343 Industries, is currently working on Halo Infinite and Halo: The Master Chief Collection for PC, but it seems the studio is staffing up for another project as well.
Job listings highlighted by Rand al Thor 19 reveal that 343 Industries is hiring two senior producers who will work on a “new project in the Halo universe.” These job ads were posted in April 2020, and they do not contain any further details on what the project may be.
The other open positions at 343 Industries specifically mention Halo Infinite, so it seems the new career opportunities are for a different project within 343 Industries.
It should be no surprise that 343 Industries is staffing for new projects, as the Halo franchise is one of Microsoft’s crown jewels and it’s not going anywhere. Microsoft believes the series will remain popular until at least 2037.
Microsoft has already expanded its scope for future Halo games. After taking over control of the Halo franchise from Bungie, Microsoft said Halo 4, Halo 5, and Halo 6 would be part of the Reclaimer Trilogy. However, Microsoft confirmed in 2013 that it’s no longer referring to the new series as a trilogy, but rather a “saga.”
“While we originally said trilogy, we’ve actually expanded this to more of a saga, so we don’t want to limit the Reclaimer story within a trilogy,” Microsoft said at the time.
Halo studio head Bonnie Ross has also hinted at the future of Halo being more open-ended. In an earlier interview, Ross said she hopes 343 Industries can some day get away from numbered Halo releases, which is another suggestion that we may see more spinoffs of the Halo series in the future. Ross has said she believes there are “hundreds” of Halo stories still to be told.
The Halo franchise has been traditionally and historically aimed at teenagers and up, but Microsoft has said it’s getting requests to make games for a younger audience. Microsoft developed a Halo Mega Bloks video game, and footage of it leaked. However, this was only a prototype that Microsoft decided to not move forward with.
In addition, Microsoft spent three years developing a Halo MMORPG with a $90 million budget, but that project, too, never came to be.
Halo Infinite is due for release this holiday as a launch title for the Xbox Series X. Microsoft has yet to show any gameplay of the title, but that should happen during the Xbox 20/20 event in July.
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