It's a new era for Halo, as developer 343 Industries announced at the conclusion of the 2024 Halo World Championships that not only are multiple new Halo projects in the works, but they will be developed (as long rumored) with Unreal Engine 5 instead of Halo Infinite's Slipstream Engine. 343 Industries itself is also undergoing a major change, rebranding as Halo Studios.

Those multiple new Halo games aren't coming anytime soon. An Xbox blog on the subject makes clear this announcement marks "the beginning of this new chapter, not the final stages." But Halo Studios is being restructured in a way to make it so multiple projects can be in the works simultaneously, instead of the entire studio being focused on a single project like in the past.

That's not to say Halo Studios didn't have anything to show as part of its big announcement. To highlight what the move to Unreal Engine 5 will look like, Halo Studios has been working on a non-game called Project Foundry. Footage and images from Project Foundry show numerous Halo-esque locales, from the Pacific Northwest-inspired vistas that have become synonymous with Halo to a Flood infested world, all meant to show the power of the engine and what will be possible. It wouldn't be a glimpse at the future of Halo without a look at the man in green himself, and Halo Studios showed that off too, with a highly-detailed look at a Halo: Combat Evolved-era Master Chief battling against an Elite made in Unreal Engine 5.