The Halo franchise has seen its fair share of challenges over the past decade with 343 Industries at the helm. After the late launch of Halo Infinite and concerns about the game’s content, the studio has made some significant changes. 343 Industries is now Halo Studio, and they have decided to switch from their custom Slipspace engine to Unreal Engine 5. This move is quite groundbreaking as Halo has been using its own technology for many years, with some code dating back to the original Halo game.
The shift to Unreal Engine 5 brings a lot of advantages to Halo Studio. They now have access to a cutting-edge renderer that can adapt to different hardware requirements and benefit from the expertise of The Coalition, a studio known for its mastery of the engine. Additionally, Unreal Engine 5 offers advanced features like Lumen and Nanite, which can address the limitations of Slipspace such as lighting, shadows, and level of detail.
While the transition to Unreal Engine 5 presents many opportunities, there are also challenges to overcome. The engine has some issues on PC, especially with shader compilation and CPU usage, particularly when using ray tracing. However, the potential for improved visuals and performance with Unreal Engine 5 is promising, especially with features like Metahuman technology and custom solutions seen in games like Hellblade 2.
The Project Foundry tech demo showcases the visual improvements that Unreal Engine 5 can bring to the Halo series. The lighting with Lumen, realistic reflections with ray tracing, and detailed environments with Nanite micro-geometry all contribute to a more immersive and visually stunning experience. However, there are concerns about traversal stutter and maintaining the open-world nature of the game without sacrificing performance.
With multiple Halo projects in development, the move to Unreal Engine 5 opens up possibilities for multi-platform releases. This could potentially lead to a reboot of the series to reach a wider audience. While the future of Halo remains uncertain, the team at Halo Studio is dedicated to making the franchise relevant and engaging once again. The switch to Unreal Engine 5 represents a bold new direction for the series, and fans are eagerly anticipating what the future holds for Master Chief and the Halo universe.