Xbox has reportedly cancelled long-rumoured Halo battle royale game

For years, it’s been rumoured that a Halo battle royale game was in the works, but now, it’s looking like that’s no longer happening.

Speaking on the XboxEra podcast, reliable insider Shpeshal_Nick claimed that the game, which was said to be in development at Halo support studio Certain Affinity, has been cancelled. Although Xbox never officially confirmed the battle royale, codenamed Project Tatanka, Certain Affinity has spoken broadly about its work on a “big and new” experience within the Halo series as early as 2021. At the time, Windows Central, a credible source for Microsoft-related news, said it had also heard that Certain Affinity’s project would include battle royale elements.

However, Bloomberg reported last year that Tatanka had begun as a battle royale but may evolve into something different. It’s unclear, then, whether Certain Affinity’s battle royale title has been cancelled entirely or it’s simply moved onto a different Halo project.

Shpeshal_Nick also didn’t clarify why Xbox supposedly canned Tatanka, but it’s possible the company realized how oversaturated the live service market is, especially with battle royales like Fortnite, PUBG and Apex Legends already going strong. In the past few years, we’ve seen several live service titles struggle as a result, including Marvel’s Avengers and Anthem, while PlayStation even scrapped plans entirely for a long-gestating The Last of Us multiplayer experience.

In any event, it’s likely that Certain Affinity, which has studios in both Austin, Texas and Toronto, will continue to work with developer 343 Industries on Halo. Bloomberg‘s report last year indicated a massive retooling of 343’s plans for the Halo franchise after a bumpy few years for Infinite that saw diminishing player counts and a swath of developers leaving the studio. Therefore, Certain Affinity will presumably aid in these efforts.

For now, Xbox is preparing to release the second season of the polarizing Halo live-action series on Paramount+ on February 8th. Outside of Halo, the company will also host a Developer_Direct showcase on January 18th to reveal more from several upcoming titles, including the first gameplay footage from its untitled Indiana Jones game.

Image credit: Xbox