Activision Is Building the Next Halo With a New, Separate Team

Activision will develop the next Halo game through a new, purpose-built team, Microsoft has confirmed. The team will operate separately from Activision’s ongoing Call of Duty development, while a smaller group at Halo Studios continues supporting the Halo community and games already on the market.

Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty detailed the arrangement in a September 22 Xbox Wire memo outlining a wider restructuring of Microsoft’s gaming organization. The announcement does not say that Microsoft sold the Halo franchise to Activision, nor does it describe the entire Halo Studios organization as moving intact.

What remains of Halo Studios?

According to Microsoft’s announcement, “a small team at Halo Studios” will remain in place to support the Halo community and titles currently in market. Development of the next Halo title, by contrast, is being assigned to the new Activision team.

Insider Gaming reported the change as Halo Studios moving under Activision for its next game. Microsoft’s own wording is more specific: Activision is taking responsibility for the next title, but part of Halo Studios will continue to operate in a support role.

The move is one piece of a broader Xbox reorganization. Activision is also expanding its remit to include World’s Edge and Rare, while other groups are being consolidated elsewhere in the company. Microsoft announced the changes alongside 268 job cuts across Halo Studios, other first-party teams, and Xbox Game Studios management and central functions, as covered in our report on Xbox’s wider restructuring.

The memo does not reveal the next Halo game’s title, release window, or platforms. It also does not connect the new team to Call of Duty’s production plans beyond explicitly stating that the two operations will remain separate.

What do you hope a purpose-built Activision team brings to the next Halo game?