Activision is taking over development of the next Halo game following Microsoft’s latest restructuring of its Xbox studios.
Halo Studios has lost Halo! Microsoft renamed 343 Industries to Halo Studios in 2024 as part of a sweeping attempt to rebuild Xbox’s flagship franchise. Less than two years later, the studio named after Halo is no longer developing the next Halo game. Xbox is handing that responsibility to Activision instead.
That leaves an obvious question. What exactly is Halo Studios without Halo? For now, mostly just a studio.
A small team will remain to support existing Halo games and the community, while Activision assembles a new purpose-built team for the next title. After years of troubled development, leadership changes, layoffs, engine problems and repeated attempts to reset 343 Industries, Microsoft has finally made the most drastic change yet.
Activision Takes Over the Next Halo Game
Microsoft confirmed on September 22 that Activision will develop the next Halo title through a new team created specifically for the project. This does not mean Infinity Ward or Treyarch has suddenly been ordered to make Halo. Xbox says the team will be separate from existing Call of Duty development.
Halo Studios will retain a smaller group supporting games already on the market and the Halo community. Microsoft also announced 268 job cuts across Halo Studios, other first-party teams and Xbox management as part of the wider restructuring. It is a remarkable reversal from October 2024.
When 343 Industries became Halo Studios, Microsoft talked about a new name, a new engine, new games and a new philosophy. Every future Halo project was moving to Unreal Engine 5, multiple games were said to be in development, and studio head Pierre Hintze described the changes as the beginning of Halo’s third chapter after Bungie and 343.
In 2024, Microsoft gave 343 a new name, a new engine and a new chapter. In 2026, it gave the next Halo to someone else.
Related story: Xbox Cuts 268 More Jobs in Sweeping Reset as Activision Takes Over Development of the Next Halo
Fans Have Been Saying Halo Lost Its Way for Years
For many longtime players, the frustration with 343 went well past bugs or delayed content. A recurring complaint was that the studio had drifted away from the tone, combat priorities, characterization and storytelling style that made Bungie’s Halo games resonate in the first place.
Halo Infinite became the clearest example of the studio’s wider problems. Its development went through leadership changes, a poorly received 2020 gameplay reveal and a year-long delay. The finished game reviewed well in 2021, but its live-service multiplayer struggled to maintain momentum as expected features and content arrived slowly.
Microsoft responded with layoffs, leadership changes and eventually the Halo Studios rebrand.
The 2024 announcement itself appeared designed to answer concerns that the studio had lost touch with the franchise. Halo Studios said it wanted future games to preserve the “soul of Halo,” specifically mentioning Master Chief’s movement, physics, weapon authenticity and the series’ lore. The studio also promised earlier and broader player feedback. Those promises now read differently.
Campaign Evolved Reopened the Same Argument
Halo: Campaign Evolved brought many of those old complaints back almost immediately. The remake added three prequel missions with new dialogue, characters and story material.
Reviews criticized those additions for heavier exposition, forced callbacks and characterization that did not always fit naturally with the more restrained storytelling of the original game. One review specifically argued that the new missions explained emotional beats that Bungie’s original campaign would have trusted players to understand themselves.
Lieutenant Williams became the biggest flashpoint. The new ODST officer is openly hostile toward Master Chief, and her repeated clashes with him irritated players who felt the writing diminished Chief rather than creating a convincing rival.
There is established Halo lore behind ODST resentment toward Spartans, so the concept itself is hardly out of place. The criticism focused more on the execution. Reviews described Williams as underdeveloped, with her hostility repeated throughout the new missions before a relatively abrupt change in attitude.
The remake also generated controversy after clips appeared to show some female NPCs surviving gunfire while nearby male characters could be killed. Players quickly interpreted the footage as evidence of deliberate invulnerability.
Subsequent testing complicated that claim, with reports indicating that female NPCs could also die and that inconsistent hitboxes or NPC states were involved. There is no verified evidence Halo Studios intentionally made women immune to gunfire.
From Activision: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 Is Coming October 23
Can Activision Give Halo the Fresh Start It Needs?
Activision brings decades of experience producing first-person shooters through its Call of Duty studios. Its established expertise in weapon handling, multiplayer systems and large-scale production could prove valuable to Halo, although the newly assembled development team has yet to demonstrate what it can deliver.
Halo’s appeal has always rested on its distinctive combat sandbox, enemy AI, vehicles, science-fiction weapons and large-scale encounters. Replicating Call of Duty’s production model won’t automatically produce a successful Halo game.
Microsoft hasn’t explained whether Campaign Evolved’s reception influenced its decision or how long it had been planning the transfer. The broader restructuring also places Rare and World’s Edge under Activision, alongside other changes across Xbox’s development studios.
For Halo fans, the immediate news is significant. After years of trying to rebuild 343 Industries, Microsoft has assigned its next Halo game to an entirely different organization. Activision now has an opportunity to show what it can do with one of gaming’s most recognizable franchises.
Source: Xbox