Xbox Confirms Activision Will Develop The Next Halo Title 1

Woah! It's been officially confirmed that Activision will be developing the next Halo game.

Xbox CCO Matt Booty shared a message titled 'Continuing Our Reset' with employees across various Xbox teams, outlining the next steps for the company's big restructure through 2026.

There's a lot going on in the post. Like, a lot. But specifically, that Xbox is "eliminating 268 roles across Halo Studios, other first-party studios, and the XGS management and central functions layer", whilst "Activision will expand its remit to World's Edge, as well as Rare" and will be "developing the next Halo title".

"Activision will expand its remit to World’s Edge, as well as Rare. Activision will also be developing the next Halo title, led by a new, purpose-built team that is separate from ongoing development and plans for Call of Duty. A small team at Halo Studios will continue supporting the Halo community and games in-market."

No specific details have been released as of yet in terms of what percentage of the 268 layoffs are taking place within Halo Studios, but as it's only a "small team", that could indicate the studio was hit hard.

Of course, this is just speculation at this point, so we'll just have to wait and see.

Rumours were swirling today that Activision would be taking over operations of Halo development, and it's clear there was some truth to them. Although, as mentioned in the quote above, a "small team at Halo Studios" will continue to work on Halo and support "the community and games in-market".

Just last month, we heard reports that Activision's Sledgehammer Games had pitched a "Halo multiplayer game" to Microsoft, and that Xbox was already "exploring a proposition to have Activision help develop Halo games".

This is a lot to take in, but what do you think about Halo moving under Activision? Talk to us about it in the comments below.