An insider has revealed new information about Halo's battle royale, originally developed under the name Project Tatanka, which has now apparently been ported to Unreal Engine 5.
We've been talking about the Halo battle royale since Infinite released, but at the time, all we know was that it was called Project Tatanka.
Then, earlier this year, we received an unfortunate update from a source who claimed Project Tatanka had been canceled.
Now, we're hearing the BR is back on. Project Tatanka hasn't died after all, but apparently it's undergone quite the transformation...
Halo battle royale ported to Unreal Engine 5, possibly now an extraction shooter
According to Rebs Gaming, a YouTuber who recently published a full report on the Halo BR, the project was renamed "Ekur" and ported to Unreal Engine 5. If you're wondering about the significance of "Ekur", in Greek mythology it was a garden parallel to Mount Olympus, which was Halo Infinite's codename.
Here is an overview of the claims made in the video:
- Tatanka was scrapped for Halo Infinite in 2022 when 343 began considering Unreal Engine for Halo’s future.
- Around the same time, Certain Affinity began reworking Tatanka into what’s now called Project Ekur.
- 343’s team wasn’t heavily involved in the details of Ekur.
- One source believes Certain Affinity moved Tatanka to Unreal Engine 5, transforming it into Ekur, while another speculates it may be an extraction shooter.
- The Ekur file remains in Halo Studio’s database, suggesting it’s not canceled.
- Certain Affinity was recently acquired by Keywords Studios and is working on several undisclosed projects.
Given Halo Infinite's failure to retain players since launch, it's an almighty shame that the BR wasn't released earlier. But with a "new dawn" recently announced for Halo, perhaps this project can spearhead the rebirth.
We're thrilled by the news, and have long supported the prospect of a Halo battle royale; this is the perfect franchise for such a mode, with its planetary scale, tight combat, and impressive selection of vehicles.
But what do you think, would you play a Halo battle royale, or are you happy to see the BR genre in decline?