Unreal Engine was considered for Halo Infinite, but developer 343 Industries eventually went with its Slipspace Engine again due to a few issues, including how the engine would have impacted the vision for the game.
As reported in a new video shared on YouTube, Rebs Gaming recently discovered an official Halo Infinite documentary created in 2017 to reframe 343 Industries' vision for the game and pitch to Xbox leadership for funding on the Vimeo profile page of a former 343I developer. The documentary, which has been made private following its discovery, features a presentation given by studio head Chris Lee revealing that, as it has been rumored a while back, 343 Industries indeed considered using Unreal Engine for the latest entry in the iconic series. In May 2017, the developer visited The Coalition, spending two days presenting their findings on the Unreal Engine before deciding on which engine to use the following month. This was a tumultuous time at the studio, as a former developer revealed that the game's art team threatened to quit if leadership didn't investigate a possible switch to Unreal Engine.
Ultimately, the findings were more favorable for the Slipspace Engine, as the Unreal Engine proved to be better in some areas, but the studio's proprietary engine was considered more powerful in others. In addition, rebuilding the foundation would have taken two years, and an engine switch would have impacted the vision. A vote with leadership was also held, and 85% chose Slipspace over the Unreal Engine, which is the engine 343 Industries ultimately used for Halo Infinite.
Although 343 Industries, now Halo Studios, ended up going with Unreal Engine 5 for the development of the next entry in the series, up until late 2022, the Slipspace Engine still seemed to have some life left in it, as it is rumored it would have powered a direct sequel to Halo Infinite. With the change of leadership on September 22 also came a change of plans, and thus, the Slipspace Engine was replaced by Unreal Engine 5 as the engine that will power future entries in the series, which may include a remake of the first entry in the series, Combat Evolved.
About the author: Francesco De Meo has been covering video games and technology since 2012, starting his career at small outlets like Gamersyndrome and GeekSnack. After joining Wccftech gaming section in 2015, he quickly expanded his video gaming coverage with in-depth reporting, interviews with iconic industry figures such as Grasshopper Manufacture founder and No More Heroes creator Goichi "Suda51" Suda, Resident Evil series creator Shinji Mikami, Team NINJA's president and Nioh series director Fumihiko Yasuda, and Silent Hill creator Keiichiro Toyama, reviews and on-the-ground coverage of major industry events such as Gamescom and E3. When he's not reporting or reviewing, Francesco can be found playing the genres he loves most, spending time with his six cats, reading, writing music, playing guitar and drumming for his progressive rock band.
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