Hello Developer 343 Industries was one of the departments hit hard by Microsoft’s layoffs in January, and while the studio assured fans it wasn’t going anywhere, a new report paints a grim picture. Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier reports that at least 95 developers at 343 Industries were let go as part of the layoff, including franchise veterans, top executives and contractors.
Sources familiar with the studio’s work added that Slipspace Engine, The powers that be Hello UnlimitedBeing pushed out to make way for the unreal engine. As for Unreal, the conversion from Slipspace’s in-house solution was described as buggy and difficult to work with, being based on code from the 1990s and early 2000s. According to the report, features like Classic Game Mode are still on hold due to its issues.
While some points were made internally about it affecting the popular “feel” of Hellothe transition to Unreal was fully underway when Pierre Heintz took over as head of 343 Industries from Bonnie Ross in September.
First unreal engine driven Hello There will reportedly be a new game from Certain Affinity and 343 Industries codenamed Tatanka. This was actually highly rumoured Hello A battle royale experience, but it is said to be becoming more than that now.
Unfortunately for fans of the story campaign, the report states that there is currently no progress in this department. While prototyping for new story content in future games was taking place in the Unreal Engine, these developers also faced layoffs from Microsoft, leading to a multiplayer-focused future.
As 343 industries are going through a turbulent period, Halo Infinite’s Plans for a multiplayer live service are underway. Its third season is finally set to arrive sometime in March after fans have watched two seasons in the six months since its launch.
Source: Bloomberg
