Featured Image Credit: Halo Studios
Topics: Halo, Xbox, Microsoft, Battle Royale
The next instalment of the Halo franchise has been spun in so many directions that Master Chief's helmet has nearly screwed itself off.
Having always been a sci-fi shooter title that operates mainly in the standard team-on-team formula, the franchise has been trying to escape the pigeonhole it has found itself stuck in.
Following the reasonable success of Infinite, the next Halo was originally planned to break free from the two-teamed shackles and capitalise on the battle royale genre that was booming due to Call of Duty: Warzone and Apex Legends.
Although these plans are dead and buried, the new era of Halo could be set to dawn soon, as reports suggest that it is pivoting in the Escape From Tarkov direction and going all-in as an extraction shooter.
Much like how Rainbow Six attacked a new extraction formula to show it isn't the one-dimensional tactical shooter people think it is, reports suggest that Halo Studios is using the blueprints of its scrapped battle royale to create its new title.
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According to the renowned leaker Rebs Gaming, 'Project Tatanka' - the battle royale codename - was shelved back in 2022 as the developers faced internal turmoil with its live-service support for Infinite.
But, this has now reportedly been resurrected into 'Project Ekur', which is to be a PvE extraction shooter built on Unreal Engine.
They claim that the new game is being developed on the same large-scale landscape as the BR, featuring smaller remastered multiplayer maps like Blood Gulch and Valhalla, and
Seeing the recent success of Arc Raiders and Marathon, and how Tarkov has thrived for years with a devoted player base, it's clear to see why Halo Studios would target this sandbox craze.
Rebs' report claimed that it could either be a standalone title, or be absorbed into the next mainline game.
As a long-time fan of the Halo experience, I was never captured by the prospect of a battle royale.
By the time it would have been released, the BR experience was oversaturated, and while it would have been cool to experience using the Halo movement and weaponry in a large-scale warfare map, it would have faced the same longevity problem that the franchise has always struggled with.
And, to be fair, it was a blast playing the community project made through Halo 3's Forge.
Retrospectively, it was the right decision to scrap the Halo battle royale.
However, an extraction shooter sounds like the natural succession for the series and the perfect pivot.
Being able to enjoy the Halo world in its fullest form, including iconic locations, while operating against the environmental and online enemies, is exactly the notion that whets my appetite.
It's not the usual two-team blowout, but rather a deeper step into Halo's universe, and we're here for it.