While riding on the coattails of the Xbox 20th anniversary, Halo Infinite’s return to form with the introduction of an open-world story campaign was not enough for long-term success of the newest entry. And now players are looking ahead to the next major title underway for the series. Previously, it was understood the team at 343 Interactive would be adopting Unreal Engine 5 as the in-house Slipspace Engine is put to rest.

This was later confirmed by a LinkedIn profile from one developer currently at the Halo developer. What’s more, the game studio similar to Halo Infinite is also recruiting one legacy developer to work on the next game. From Bungie, Dan Gniady worked on majority of Destiny as well as some Call of Duty titles prior.

One report that has gone viral recently now suggest that 343 Industries is taking the back seat approach to development for new Halo titles. On X, @BathrobeCast in an extensive thread elaborates on the current state of the franchise. One nugget of information indicated that the game studio will only supervise future titles as the series is outsourced to other talent.

However, that has since then been indicated to be untrue. From insider Jez Corden of Windows Central, he confirms that after speaking with sources, there is no plans for Halo to be handed off from 343 Industries in any form. “Checked into latest xbox rumor going around that ‘343i isn’t going to develop halo games’ and instead only ‘oversee’ them: false af in case you believed it,” he wrote.

What still is left unclear is the reports of a Halo: Combat Evolved remake. While there is reports of a new installment alongside a separate project, it is indicated one project is revitalizing the inaugural 2001 release as well as an effort for the series’ debut on PlayStation. You can read the full report by heading here.

Are you surprised by the recent string of rumors surrounding Halo?