Call Of Duty developer rumoured to be working on Halo after new job ad
Date: 2024-11-01
After assisting on Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6, a deleted post has revealed Sledgehammer Games is working on a secret project within Xbox.
Call Of Duty is back on a high following the launch of Black Ops 6, which has already become the fastest selling game in the series and the most critically acclaimed in years.
Development on Black Ops 6 was handled by Treyarch and Raven Software, with Sledgehammer Games acting as a support studio. The latter developed last year’s much maligned Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, and, along with working on a future Call Of Duty entry, it seems like the studio has another project in the pipeline.
That’s according to a now deleted LinkedIn post from Andrew Wilson, chief operating officer at Sledgehammer Games, where he said the team is looking to hire eight developers familiar with Unreal Engine 5 to work on an ‘unexpected’ project.
Wilson’s post was bouncing off a job callout from Ben Wanat, senior creative director at Sledgehammer Games, which listed eight available job positions ranging from Systems Designer, Character Artist, to Senior Technical Artist.
In the post, Wanat wrote: ‘I’m looking for friendly, hands-on collaborators with deep knowledge of Unreal 5 who thrive in an indy [sic] style development environment.’
While it’s unclear what the project actually is, the ‘indie style’ description suggests it’s either for a small-scale project or to act as a support team on a larger title – perhaps for a specific mode.
After the post was circulated by Xbox insider Klobrille on Twitter, fans have speculated that it could be tied to Halo in some way.
Recently, Halo developer 343 Industries rebranded to Halo Studios and moved to Unreal Engine 5, after decades of using their own propriety engine.
Call Of Duty games are made using the IW engine and not Unreal Engine 5, so whatever the project is, it’s relatively unlikely to be Call Of Duty related.
Although it’s not happened officially yet, now that Microsoft owns Activision Blizzard, they’re free to use the studios however they want. Although they’ve already indicated they’ll maintain the existing structure that sees one studio taking the lead on a new game in a roughly three year cycle.
If Sledgehammer are not helping out with Halo then it’s still a mystery what the job ads are for, and could also suggest some kind of new spin-off or even a new IP.
Considering Halo infinite struggled with delays in its production and post-launch content, Microsoft might be looking to ensure the next Halo is capable of delivering the same quality as Call Of Duty within a similarly strict timeframe.
The Halo franchise has dimmed in popularity since 343 Industries took the reins from Bungie with 2012’s Halo 4, so drafting in support from a team who have experience in making highly polished shooters would be a smart move to capitalise on the Activision acquisition.
Halo Studios confirmed it is working on multiple Halo games in a blog post last month, in what was described as being the ‘beginning’ of a ‘new chapter’, so it’s likely we won’t hear anything about these new projects for a few years yet.
Sledgehammer Games is believed to be working on the next Call Of Duty game following Black Ops 6, which is rumoured to be a sequel to Black Ops 2.
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