343 Industries had pitched as many as 30 different ideas for new Halo games to higher-ups at Xbox, but all of them were rejected.
Former 343 Industries Senior/Lead Designer Kevin Schmitt took to Twitter/X to reveal that Xbox had rejected as many as 30 different ideas for new Halo games pitched by the studio during the 12 year period that he had been working there.
According to Schmitt, each of the 20 to 30 ideas that 343 Industries had pitched to Xbox would have worked well as part of the Halo universe. He stated that they included many single-player and multiplayer ideas that were based around United Nations Space Command Marines, known as Orbital Drop Shock Troopers or ODSTs. Schmitt mentioned that some of the ideas involved galaxy-spanning, while some were more intimate. There was also one that was really “dark”, he added.
These details will undoubtedly come as disappointing to Halo fans, who have been looking for the series to explore new themes. On one hand, Xbox has greenlit new and innovative titles like Hi-Fi Rush, but on the other, it doesn’t seem to want to experiment much with its established IP, as evidenced by both the Halo and Gears franchises.
Not long ago, it was reported by XboxEra Podcast co-host Shpeshal_Nick that Project Tatanka, the unannounced Halo Battle Royale game that had been in development for some time, was seemingly canceled. Co-host _Sikamikanico and YouTuber ColtEastwood also claimed to have heard the same regarding the fate of the project. The game was rumored to have started off as a battle royale mode for Halo Infinite, but eventually evolved into a standalone game. It was allegedly being developed in Unreal Engine 5. Additionally, it was rumored that Halo Infinite was set to receive campaign DLC at one point, and it was in R&D phase prior to 343 Industries getting hit with layoffs.
