As a long-time Halo fan who’s been through the Master Chief’s Spartan armor more times than I can count, the recent reveal of Project Foundry has me feeling like I’ve just found a new Mjolnir Mark VI suit in the back of a Forerunner vault. The visuals are breathtaking, and the shift to Unreal Engine 5 is a move that makes my old-school gamer heart skip a beat – not unlike when I first encountered a Flood outbreak on Delta Halo.
Recently, it can’t be ignored that the Halo franchise has faced some challenges. Despite ongoing support for Halo Infinite by 343 Industries and SkyBox Labs, it seems Xbox is preparing to launch a fresh chapter in the series. This implies a new studio entirely dedicated to all aspects of Halo. During the Halo World Championship over the weekend, viewers got a sneak peek at the revamped Halo Studios (formerly known as 343), along with its inaugural project, tentatively named Project Foundry.
Project Foundry isn’t merely a tech showcase or a complete game. Rather, it serves as a demonstration of what Halo can achieve under its new studio direction, incorporating many classic Halo elements such as Master Chief amidst Forerunner architecture. Notably, the visuals are being developed using Unreal Engine 5, as Halo Studios transitions from its older Slipspace Engine. The team at Halo Studios acknowledges the age of Slipspace and is optimistic that this transition to UE5 will draw in new talent and reduce the time between updates.
Let’s allow Xbox Wire to explain further:
In simpler terms, Foundry signifies more than just a showcase of what this engine can do; it serves as a realistic demonstration of what creating a new Halo game using Unreal Engine would entail. It’s also a learning tool for the process and quality standards necessary to achieve such a project. The development of Foundry follows the same meticulous, systematic approach and high-quality output as a fully-released game.
Matthews clarifies, “In areas where this type of work has historically been done across industries, there can often be a lot of deception or misdirection. This may cause players to expect one thing, only for something else entirely to occur. However, Foundry’s philosophy stands firmly against that. Instead, we strive for transparency and honesty.
Our creations are designed to meet the high standards necessary for the progression of our games. We were careful not to cross over into tech demo territory, instead focusing on constructing elements that we wholeheartedly believe in. A significant portion of the content we’ve developed could potentially be moved around within our games as needed, should the opportunity arise in the future.
In simpler terms, Hintze implies that most of what was demonstrated in Foundry is likely to be a part of the projects we’re currently working on or plan to work on in the future.
The most interesting thing to come out of the Project Foundry reveal isn’t that it’s a preview of the next Halo game. It’s that multiple Halo games are currently in development. With that said, Halo Studios notes that these projects are far closer to the beginning than the end. The team notes that Halo Infinite will continue to be supported for the foreseeable future with all updates coming through the Slipspace Engine. The next update will see the game receive a 3rd person mode.
It remains uncertain when we can expect these upcoming Halo games to be unveiled. However, given the advancements in technology, it seems likely that they will be designed for hardware beyond the current Xbox Series X|S generation. Rest assured, we’ll keep you updated as this story unfolds over the next few years.
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2024-10-07 02:57