Although Halo Infinite shines as a brilliant single-player adventure with an outstanding multiplayer suite, 343 Industries’ latest attempt at the iconic Xbox franchise still encounters issues. However, Bungie’s former Lead Game Designer has joined the team for the upcoming Halo 7, bringing a bold plan to give The Covenant back their bomb.
Halo YouTuber Rebs Gaming spotted that 343 Industries has hired a new Lead Game Designer for Halo 7. Dan Gniady, previously a producer on Destiny 2 as well as a gameplay designer, will spearhead the next mainline Halo game.
Gniady’s experience includes working on Destiny 2 and its best expansions, as well as collaborating with Creative Assembly, the studio behind Halo Wars 2. At Creative Assembly, Gniady worked on HYENAS, the unfortunately canceled PvEvP extraction shooter that received hugely positive responses from critics and fans.
In the new lead designer's profile, they explain they're "doing game direction on a Halo experience". Alongside this, they claim to be "giving The Covenant back their bomb".
Though Gniady hasn’t disclosed any details about Halo 7, they posted an image of themselves next to the imposing villain Atriox. While presumed dead for most of Halo Infinite’s campaign, the finale revealed that the terrifying Brute is still alive somewhere—or sometime—on Zeta Halo.
Gniady captioned the image “he’s not so big,” possibly hinting at a plan for Master Chief to battle Atriox one-on-one in the next mainline Halo adventure.
In addition to Gniady’s hiring as lead game designer, Rebs Gaming noticed a new job listing from 343 Industries confirming the use of Unreal Engine 5 for the next Halo game. The listing for a Senior UX designer specifically asks for “Unreal Engine” expertise, marking the first official mention of this requirement.
Rebs Gaming also observed that pre-production on Halo 7’s “narrative, franchise themes, tone, and visual style” occurred between December 2022 and August 2023, as revealed by an ex-343 employee’s LinkedIn. During that time, multiple prototypes were built alongside concept art quality targets and direction for characters, environments, and budgets.
However, it's worth noting that all this work may not be for Halo 7. There’s a possibility that 343 Industries is developing a full remake of Halo: Combat Evolved. Like The Coalition’s upcoming Gears of War: E-Day, this remake is rumored to restore Halo’s status as a key Xbox franchise.
Currently, Halo Infinite stands as a quality shooter with one of the series’ best stories and weapon sandboxes. If Halo 7 is indeed the next step for the series, this massively overhauled team may deliver an even better sequel whenever that time arrives.