Halo: Scrapped Multiplayer Modes, Layoffs, and New Games

This is perhaps the busiest period in Halo's recent history, and frankly, there’s a lot to digest. With changes in studios, abandoned prototypes, and a host of upcoming projects rumored to be in the pipeline, it is quite possible that all of these individual threads are merely elements of a larger story.

Start with the multiplayer situation, since that's what's got people talking the most right now. Word going around is that the unannounced Halo multiplayer project known internally as Ekur has been shut down. This follows two other cancellations before it.

Project Tatanka, the battle royale mode that was in the works, got axed first, and a prototype extraction-style mode also got scrapped along the way. So you're looking at three failed swings at new Halo multiplayer content in a row, which sounds rough on paper, but there's more context worth knowing.

The reason Project Ekur specifically got cut has less to do with the mode being bad.

Rather, the real reason was more to do with where Halo Studios needed to put its resources. Halo Campaign Evolved needed more manpower to get finished, and timing played a big role in that. Originally, the plan was for Halo Campaign Evolved to launch in November.

However, once GTA 6 got its own release window announced for that same month, everything shifted. Halo has since moved to July 28, which conveniently cleared space and likely explains why extra staff got pulled toward finishing Halo Campaign Evolved sooner rather than later.

One theory floating around, which lines up with what a few credible Halo leakers have said, is that it wasn't the entire multiplayer project that got canceled, just the third major mode planned for it, the kind of large-scale mode similar to Warzone from Halo 5. If that's accurate, then Halo multiplayer as a whole isn't dead; it's just missing one ambitious piece for now.

As for what's actually coming, the best guess right now is that the next Halo multiplayer experience won't even get a subtitle. It'll likely just be called Halo, built as a live, evolving base that gets expanded over time instead of being treated as a one-and-done release.

There's a strong argument for XBOX and Halo Studios to hold off launching anything until two conditions are met.

First, there needs to be a steady content pipeline already built so updates can roll out consistently after launch instead of scrambling to catch up. Second, the launch itself needs to meet the bar that longtime fans expect from a mainline Halo multiplayer release.

That means proper pre-game and post-game lobbies, real social features, Forge, a wide range of custom game settings, a fully working Theater mode, and every core mode that shipped with Halo games back in 2010. Skipping that big third mode at launch is a risk too, since without something like Big Team Battle's bigger, more chaotic cousin, the multiplayer package could feel thin right out of the gate.

Better to wait for something complete than repeat what happened with Halo Infinite, where the game spent years playing catch-up instead of launching whole. Now for the other half of this story, which somehow ties directly back into all of this.

XBOX is reportedly going through a major internal shake-up under new CEO Asha Sharma, who's been actively restructuring the company to push it back toward profitability. Reports point to a serious round of XBOX layoffs coming in the near future, with entire studios potentially on the chopping block.

These layoffs tie back to how expensive AAA development has become industry-wide.

There are also rumors that XBOX actually loses around $200 on every console sold. On a smaller but related note, the next XBOX hardware is rumored to include a disc-to-digital feature, which fits a broader trend of both XBOX and PlayStation stepping away from physical media entirely.

Speaking of which, PlayStation has already started converting its disc manufacturing plants into other kinds of factories, which strongly suggests they're not planning to reverse their own move away from physical releases anytime soon. PlayStation has also gone quiet publicly since the backlash started, seemingly hoping the controversy dies down on its own.

It's a genuinely disappointing shift if you've collected physical games for years, and there's still hope that enough consistent pushback from players could get companies to reconsider, but nothing's guaranteed there. Here's where it circles back to Halo.

Despite the XBOX layoffs being a rough outcome for the people affected, the resources being freed up from those cuts are reportedly being redirected straight into Halo development. That's a genuinely rare piece of good news buried inside a difficult situation.

Journalist Jez Corden has reported that some of these internal cutbacks are specifically tied to fixing and strengthening Halo going forward.

He's also mentioned expecting more collaboration from Call of Duty development teams. Names like Sledgehammer, Treyarch, and Activision helping shape future Halo titles would've sounded absurd a year ago, but that's apparently the direction things are heading now.

There's also a rumor circulating that Halo Infinite's real development budget was significantly higher than the commonly cited $300 to $500 million figure, though that one still needs firmer confirmation before it's treated as fact.

As for what's actually in the pipeline beyond Halo Campaign Evolved, there's apparently a lot. A new Halo campaign is said to be in early development, though it might not be a numbered Halo 7 entry; it could instead be a spin-off, possibly something along the lines of an ODST 2.

That claim reportedly comes from a source with a strong track record of accurate Halo leaks in the past. Combine that with rumors of Call of Duty studios lending support, and you start to see a picture of XBOX potentially releasing new Halo content on a much tighter, more consistent schedule than the usual five-year gap fans have grown used to.

Halo Campaign Evolved is heading into early access on July 23rd.

There's still that unannounced Halo multiplayer project, which might get properly revealed at Halo Fest in December. Beyond that, a mainline sequel is apparently already being worked on by Halo Studios and its partners, alongside a possible spin-off campaign rumored to be ODST 2.

And somewhere further out on the horizon sits a rumored Halo MMO, potentially similar in structure to Destiny, though that one is still very much unconfirmed and worth treating as speculation for now. It's a genuinely wild amount of parallel development for one franchise, and it raises a real question of whether this counts as the start of a second golden age for Halo.

There's reason for optimism, but also reason for caution, since Halo Infinite is proof that heavy investment alone doesn't guarantee a smooth launch. That game had serious funding behind it and still ran into major engine problems that kept it from reaching its full potential for years.

If Halo Campaign Evolved turns out to be a sign that the engine and production pipeline issues have actually been sorted out, then the years ahead could genuinely be some of the best this franchise has seen in a long time.

Either way, more concrete details are expected at Halo Fest in Seattle this December, and Halo Campaign Evolved itself is now just a few weeks away from its early access launch. For a franchise that's spent years playing catch-up, this is shaping up to be one of its most active and closely watched stretches yet.