Report: Next Halo Game May Be a Master Chief Origin Story

On Sept. 22, Xbox made the seismic announcement that it had handed development of the Halo series from Halo Studios to Call of Duty publisher Activision. Since then, there's been plenty of speculation about what's next for the Master Chief, and a recent leak may offer our first insight. According to Rebs Gaming, Activision is considering making the next game a hard reboot centered on Master Chief's origin story.

Assuming the game maintains some of the established canon, it could explore John-117’s abduction by the United Nations Space Command and his early life as a child soldier. Rebs clarified that the project hasn’t been greenlit yet, and this is just one of many avenues Activision is exploring. Another option is a soft reboot that would pivot away from the storylines explored in Halo Studios' most recent games. Rebs shared a quote from an anonymous former Halo developer who said, “Whatever Activision does, I just hope they learn from Halo Studios' mistakes. Show, don’t tell. Don’t force anyone to engage in the expanded universe to understand what’s happening. Listen to the fans and developers."

According to Rebs, the same source said Activision had proposed two Halo games before Xbox’s official announcement. One was a free-to-play multiplayer title, while the other was a single-player experience. Sledgehammer Games, which most recently worked as the lead development studio for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, prototyped both projects in Infinity Ward's in-house engine. Halo Infinite was created in Halo Studios’s Slipspace Engine, while Halo: Campaign Evolved was developed in Unreal Engine 5.

Why did Xbox Studios hand Halo development to Activision?

The Halo series has had quite a few ups and downs since series creator Bungie parted ways with Microsoft in 2007. Halo 4 and Halo 5: Guardians from 343 Industries (now Halo Studios) both sold well, hitting 9.75 million and 9.5 million units, respectively. The team announced last year that active development was ending for its 2021 mainline game Halo Infinite following problems with player retention and fan complaints about how the studio handled live service elements. This year's Halo: Campaign Evolved sold a little over 1 million copies, according to Alinea Analytics.

Before Xbox handed over Halo to Activision, Halo Studios was reportedly working on a multiplayer Halo game, which was canceled. Rebs reported that while the next mainline Halo game was "years" away, the studio was in the planning stages for Halo 7, remakes of Halo 2 and 3, and various "spinoff campaigns."