343 Industries considered using Unreal Engine for Halo Infinite, but chose Slipspace for fidelity and vision

A leaked documentary confirms that an engine change was debated in 2017, but was discarded due to technical and artistic risk.

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Before Halo Infinite took shape with the Slipspace engine, 343 Industries seriously considered a radical shift: moving development to Unreal Engine. This possibility was discussed in 2017, during a creative re-evaluation phase aimed at defining the future of the saga.

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According to Rebs Gaming, through a video based on a leaked official documentary, the Halo team thoroughly studied Epic Games’ engine, even visiting The Coalition’s offices to analyze their results. Despite certain technical advantages, the final decision was to keep the in-house engine to avoid rebuilding from scratch and compromising the project’s creative vision.

Slipspace remained the basis for Halo Infinite to avoid rebuilding the game from scratch

In May 2017, 343 Industries conducted an internal comparative evaluation between Unreal Engine and Slipspace, motivated by pressure from several members of the art team who wanted to abandon the in-house engine. Some even threatened to leave the studio if a change wasn’t seriously considered.

The conclusion was clear: although Unreal surpassed Slipspace in certain areas, a complete migration would have meant an additional two years of work, as well as deeply altering the original idea behind Halo Infinite. An internal vote among leaders ultimately decided the course: 85% voted in favor of sticking with Slipspace.

Over time, and after the change in leadership in September 2022, it was decided to adopt Unreal Engine 5 for future installments of the franchise, including possible remakes like Halo: Combat Evolved. But now, we know that Halo Infinite was the result of a complex decision that avoided rebuilding the entire technological base… in exchange for keeping the team’s vision intact.