Halo Studios, which was once called 343 Industries, is an American company that makes video games. It is located in Redmond, Washington, and is part of Xbox Game Studios. Pierre Hintze leads the studio. They are in charge of the Halo science fiction game series and create Halo games on their own and with other studios.
The studio was formed in 2007 to manage the Halo series after Bungie, the original creator of Halo, became independent from Microsoft. It was first called 343 Industries, named after a character in the game called 343 Guilty Spark.
After helping create extra game content for Halo: Reach, which was Bungie's last Halo game, 343 Industries released Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary and Halo 4. Halo 4 began the studio's "Reclaimer Saga" series, which included Halo 5: Guardians in 2015 and ended with Halo Infinite in 2021.
In October 2024, the studio changed its name again.
History
Bungie was a video game developer. In 2000, Microsoft acquired Bungie. At the time, Bungie was working on a game called Halo: Combat Evolved, which became a launch title for Microsoft’s Xbox console. The cultures of Bungie and Microsoft did not work well together. After releasing Halo 2, Bungie asked for a better share of the profits for their next game, Halo 3. These discussions led to Bungie announcing its independence from Microsoft in 2007. Even though Bungie continued to make new Halo games as part of their contract, Microsoft kept the rights to the Halo franchise.
Bonnie Ross, Xbox’s general manager, said her colleagues thought Halo was becoming less popular and considered hiring an outside company to make new games. Ross believed Halo’s deep story and universe were valuable and argued for a different approach. Her idea convinced Shane Kim, Microsoft Game Studios’ general manager. Ross was put in charge of a new internal Halo studio called 343 Industries, named after a Halo character, 343 Guilty Spark.
343 Industries started with about 12 employees in late 2007. Frank O’Connor, a Bungie employee, helped during the transition and later became 343 Industries’ franchise director. Ross’ vision for Halo also impressed Microsoft’s art director, Kiki Wolfkill, who joined 343 as a studio head. During the transition, 343 Industries worked with Starlight Runner to create a centralized story guide for the Halo universe.
In July 2009, 343 Industries announced a seven-part Halo anime series called Halo Legends. Later that year, the studio created Halo Waypoint, a downloadable app that tracks Halo accomplishments. 343 Industries added more staff for Halo development, hiring people from Pandemic Studios. The studio also worked with Certain Affinity on Halo: Reach’s map packs. To celebrate the 10th anniversary of Halo: Combat Evolved, 343 Industries hired Saber Interactive to develop Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, which released on November 15, 2011.
After Bungie finished Halo: Reach, 343 Industries was given full control of the Halo franchise, including servers and data, on March 31, 2012. The studio developed Halo 4, which started in 2009 and was completed in September 2012. It was released on November 6, 2012, as the first title in a new Halo Reclaimer Trilogy, which would include at least two more games. At E3 2013, Microsoft and 343 Industries announced the next Halo game for the Xbox One. Shortly after, Microsoft confirmed the Reclaimer Trilogy would be expanded into a Reclaimer Saga. At E3 2014, the next game was named Halo 5: Guardians, with a planned release on October 27, 2015. Microsoft partnered with Mega Bloks to create toys and memorabilia for the Halo saga. Halo 5: Guardians was released on October 27, 2015, with exclusive content for buyers of select Mega Bloks sets. 343 Industries provided free monthly updates for Halo 5 after its launch.
At E3 2018, Microsoft and 343 Industries announced Halo Infinite, originally planned for a 2020 release on Xbox One, Windows PCs, and the next Xbox console, the Xbox Series X. The game was delayed to 2021 partly due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which required 343 staff to work remotely. Halo Infinite was developed using 343’s in-house Slipspace Engine.
After Halo Infinite was released, 343 Industries supported the game with updates. On September 12, 2022, Bonnie Ross announced she would leave her role as studio head. Her responsibilities were divided among three new positions: Pierre Hintze became studio head, Bryan Koski became franchise general manager, and Elizabeth Van Wyck took over business and operations. 343 Industries faced challenges during wider tech industry layoffs and Microsoft’s reorganizations. Bloomberg News reported the studio would change its development structure.
In October 2024, 343 Industries rebranded as Halo Studios, shifting to Unreal Engine 5 for future projects instead of its Slipspace Engine. A Halo Waypoint blog post in July 2025 confirmed Halo Studios would reveal details about its first Unreal Engine 5 project during the October Halo World Championships. The studio faced internal layoffs as part of Microsoft’s reorganizations. An anonymous former employee told Engadget there was “tension” at the studio over unspecified projects that were “recently in crisis.” The employee also said Microsoft was shifting Halo development to work with contracted studios in the U.S. and Europe, similar to how games like Call of Duty and Battlefield are made. More layoffs occurred in 2025 as part of Microsoft’s broader cuts, with reports of dissatisfaction and tension at Halo Studios.