Modern Warfare 3 (2023) developer Sledgehammer Games may be switching teams. According to Call of Duty leaker TheGhostofHope, the studio behind Advanced Warfare has been tasked with working on the Halo franchise. This rumor first appeared over the summer, but has gained more traction after a now-deleted job listing mentioned working in Unreal Engine — the very same engine Halo Studios (formerly 343 Industries) confirmed for the next Halo title.
The listing, first reported by Kobrille, stated Sledgehammer is hiring for an “unexpected” game running on UE5.
Videos by ComicBook.com
For the uninitiated, both Call of Duty and Halo have long been built on bespoke engines. Call of Duty Black Ops 6, for example, runs on IW 9.0 which was built as a three-team collaboration by Infinity Ward, Treyarch, and Sledgehammer Games. Halo Infinite was built on the team’s proprietary Slipspace Engine, which has long been a point of contention for fans of the game.
As revealed in an October franchise update, Halo has decided to move on from Slipspace, opting to use the more popular Unreal alternative to lead the franchise into the future.
“Before, we really had to split our focus in thinking about building an engine, supporting it, being really kind of a tech company and a studio at the same time,” Chief Operating Officer Elizabeth Van Wyck said in the video. “Since we’ve made the change to shift to UE, we can bring Halo forward in ways that people have seen before, while still being true to what Halo is.”
Unreal Engine’s popularity opens Halo’s doors in a significant way. Now, instead of developers learning an entirely new system, they can hit the ground running with a product widely-used elsewhere in the industry. That may be where Sledgehammer Games comes into play.
Rebranding from 343i is another piece of the puzzle. Perhaps the studio had simply outgrown the old name, but the inclusive nature of Halo Studios certainly seems to be pointing toward a change in strategy. Microsoft’s industry-shaking acquisition of Activision Blizzard put Call of Duty and Halo together under the same roof. The former is famous for being a joint collaboration between 15 studios and produces blockbuster numbers year over year. So, if this report is accurate, there may be some wisdom in expanding Halo Studios’ borders in this next era.
What better way to do that than bringing on the team behind Advanced Warfare? That game, which released nearly a year before Halo 5, drew constant comparisons to the Halo franchise. Jetpacks, special abilities, and a general Sci-Fi facelift for the then-stagnant modern day shooter was a point of envy for disgruntled Halo fans towards the end of Halo 4’s active support cycle.
While it’s always wise to take early rumors with a grain of salt, it doesn’t seem so far-fetched that the rival FPS giants could be on collaborative collision course. Regardless, Halo Studios has made it clear they’re still a long way off from another game, so any official news is likely still months (if not years) away.
