A brand new Halo multiplayer game has been scrapped, according to sources.
A popular Halo YouTuber known as Rebs Gaming has reported that a new multiplayer project set in the beloved sci-fi universe was recently cancelled. This report was also backed up by Windows Central’s Jez Corden, who stated that the news was “100% true.”
The new game was codenamed ‘Ekur,’ and was being worked on by Certain Affinity, a studio that has done a lot of support work on previous Halo and Call of Duty titles. The game’s origins began in a totally different project known as ‘Tatanka,’ which was a battle royale-esque Halo game.
However, that was scrapped in favor of Ekur, which was described as a “super big team battle idea,” pulling from Halo’s history of large-scale multiplayer modes. Halo 5’s Warzone mode was seen as a source of inspiration, as well, and the team also toyed with an extraction mode. The project would’ve used the map that was built for Tatanka and was being developed in Unreal Engine, not unlike the upcoming Halo: Combat Evolved remake.
It’s unclear if the goal was to make a multiplayer Halo game that had a broader appeal after Infinite failed to capture a consistent audience, or if it would’ve been a premium title. Nevertheless, the project supposedly met its end after development troubles on Campaign Evolved, which pulled staff away from the multiplayer project. Whether this game ever sees the light of day is totally up in the air. It’s possible it could be revived, especially as Microsoft is trying to inject some life into its biggest franchises right now. It doesn’t seem like this was canned as a result of the recent Xbox reset, so hopefully it can find its way back.
Although Halo Infinite’s servers remain active, the game’s player base isn’t very lively. It seems hard to imagine that Microsoft would want to keep Halo’s multiplayer benched for the foreseeable future, especially with a new Xbox console on the horizon. Campaign Evolved is, as the title implies, a single-player game with the option of co-op. But for those craving a competitive PVP multiplayer experience, they’ll have to wait a while.
Cade Onder is a freelancer for IGN’s news team. He covers all things entertainment, including gaming, film, and more. You can find him on Twitter @Cade_Onder.