SUMMARY
- 343 planned a Battle Royale for the Halo series using Halo Infinite as a base.
- However, the project codenamed Project Tantaka seems to have been canceled.
Ever since a battle royale spin-off of Halo was announced, the fans have been excitedly awaiting the game. However, recent reports suggest that the game, codenamed Project Tatanka, may no longer see the light of the day.
Although Microsoft-owned 343, the core developer of Halo had remained hush about the battle royale mode, the co-developers Certain Affinity had been vocal about the unannounced Halo project for more than two years with close to 100 developers working on it. Certain Affinity COO Paul Sams had said, “It’s something big and new for the franchise. But I can’t say any more about it.” Certain Affinity was seemingly given the lead over the battle royale spin-off.
Halo Battle Royale spin-off canceled
Recently, during an XboxEra podcast, a trustworthy insider named Shpeshal_Nick stated that the game codenamed Project Tatanka, had apparently been canceled. Additionally, the insider and the podcast host Jon Clarke confirmed that they both have been informed about the project being canceled.
To add to it, an independent YouTuber named ColtEastwood also recently said that he had heard the news of the game being canceled.
Halo’s “Battle Royale” spin-off is cancelled according to XboxEra’s Nick Baker…except, he didn’t say that at all. https://t.co/LxoKa7xQgy #Xbox #Halo pic.twitter.com/XD1vNgz17u
— XboxEra (@xboxera) January 16, 2024
Earlier while announcing the project in April 2022, Certain Affinity had mentioned that it was “deepening” its relationship with the core developer of the Halo series, 343 Industries. It added. “We’ve been part of the Halo franchise for more than 15 years and we’re honored to say we are deepening our relationship with 343 and have been entrusted with further evolving Halo Infinite in some new and exciting ways.”
Post that the development of the title was also discussed in a Bloomberg report about the future of 343 Industries. The report noted that Project Tatanka had started as a battle royale but “may evolve in different directions”.
Considering Certain Affinity’s multiple confirmations, seems like the title was indeed in development, however, if the recent reports are to be believed fans may never receive it.
Why was Halo Battle Royale canceled?
In early 2023, Microsoft was implementing several layoffs, which affected a number of its subsidiaries. These included some of the big developers like The Coalition, Bethesda Game Studios, and 343 Industries. Amidst the layoffs, there were rumors that the development of future Halo games was being passed on to a third-party studio and that 343 Industries would go into only a supervisory role.
Brushing off the rumors, 343 had assured fans that it would continue development on its Halo franchise “now and in the future.” Besides, 343 Industries also witnessed a host of high-level departures after the release of Halo Infinite. This hinted that there could be instability at the studio.
Among the departures was 343 founder and lead, Bernie Ross, who had actively worked on Halo titles for over 15 years. Following that, 343 Industries even went through restructuring, wherein Bryan Koski, who was previously responsible for Halo’s marketing, was given the role of GM of the franchise, and Elizabeth Van Wyck handled business and operations.
The restructuring and internal changes could be a possible reason why Tatanka was pushed off the cliff. It is to be noted that the official reason for the cancelation is not known. In fact, the cancellation also has not been officially announced, thus players are advised to take the details with a grain of salt.