Following Halo Infinite's release at the end of 2021, it has recently been revealed that development on the game's sequel has been worked on by 343 since the early months of 2022, thanks to the work of an observant user on Reddit.
By visiting the LinkedIn profile of Justin Dirges, former Art Director at 343, user Quelanight2324 on Reddit was able to work out when development had begun on the upcoming Halo game. On Dirges; LinkedIn profile, it states that he "worked on Halo's next unannounced release", with the work starting in April 2022.
Dirges has since left 343 Industries to join development studio Lost Boys Interactive, a game development studio with credits on Diablo IV and Tiny Tina's Wonderlands, to work on a new internal IP. However, before leaving in 2023, his LinkedIn profile states that he "worked on Halo's next unannounced release", starting from April 2022.
Quelanight2324 also highlighted the profile of 343's Senior Character Systems Designer Ian Slutz, whose LinkedIn reveals that he has been involved in "building player systems and assets in Unreal Engine 5" since joining the studio in 2019. This likely confirms Slutz's involvement in working on the next Halo title, given that it will be the first title from 343 Industries to use Epic Games' creation platform.
The next Halo title was previously confirmed to be in development using Unreal Engine 5, meaning that the proprietary engine created for Halo Infinite, SlipSpace Engine, was dropped after a single game.
Hopefully, the introduction of UE5 won't threaten the existence of the iconic Forge mode, which fans are still finding unique new ways to use. From building working Pokemon games to recreating iconic missions from classic Halo games, Halo's Forge mode continues to be one of gaming's most impressive sandboxs. Just this week, one player managed to create their own tabletop RPG using Forge in Halo Infinite. However, since the arrival of Fortnite's map maker showing the potential utility of UE5, these fears have largely been resolved.