343 Industries denies reports it’s no longer making Halo

343 Industries, the internal studio that Microsoft created to carry on the work of making Halo games after Bungie’s departure from the fold, has issued a statementIt assured fans it would continue making Halo games.

Following rumors suggesting that the studio would shift to outsourced development, it was forced to move.

“Halo and Master Chief are here to stay,” reads the brief note from studio head Pierre Hintze. “343 Industries will continue to develop Halo now and in the future, including epic stories, multiplayer, and more of what makes Halo great.”

This rumor was first made public by French Halo leaker Bathrobe SpartanGameSpot, among others, reported that 343 had retreated from active development of Halo. Halo Infinite multiplayer, and that new games in the series would be outsourced to third-party studios under 343’s supervision, and using its Slipspace engine. Bathrobe Spartan stated that single-player production at the studio wasn’t profitable or effective in player retention. Multiplayer was faring much better.

The report followed the news last week that 343 had been “hit hard” in the latest round of Microsoft layoffs, and that veteran Halo developer Joe Staten (who had had a focus on the campaign side of Halo InfiniteThe studio had been closed down by ). In the wake of the layoffs, ex-343 developers came forward to blame what they saw as “incompetent” management at the studio, leading to Infinite’s troubled development and botched launch.

Hintze’s statement is designed to reassure Halo fans — and, perhaps, 343 staff — that the studio remains central to the Halo franchise, and that Halo remains important to Microsoft (as the tech giant seeks to acquire Activision Blizzard and its rival shooter franchise, Call of Duty). But that the studio felt it necessary to make the statement speaks to 343’s weakened position after the layoffs — and it doesn’t necessarily contradict the report’s suggestion that Microsoft might be looking toward more collaboration with outside studios on future Halo games.