The big Halo Fest event planned for December is going ahead as planned, despite mass layoffs and other major changes at developer Halo Studios.
Halo Studios director of competitive engagement, Tashi, confirmed this and said there will be news about Halo Fest this week. Additionally, Halo Studios will release materials “celebrating the community and 25 years of Halo,” while fans can also look forward to “relevant game info” about in-market Halo games.
“There’s a huge amount of Halo fans who are looking forward to the event to attend or watch from home, and we’re looking forward to providing a platform for the community to celebrate 25 years of Halo and each other,” Tashi said of Halo Fest.
Halo Fest takes place December 11-13 in Seattle–the event is totally sold out. “No matter why you love Halo, whether it’s the story and characters, the music, the art and universe, or just playing with friends–Halo Fest will have something for you,” Microsoft said of the event.
The voices of Master Chief and Cortana, Steve Downes and Jen Taylor, will appear at Halo Fest, while there will also be a range of community events celebrating the series. Some had expected Halo Studios to announce the next big Halo game at Halo Fest, but it’s not unreasonable to think that plans may have changed.
Halo Fest is happening against a major shift for the Halo franchise following the gutting of Halo Studios and the transition of the series from Halo Studios to Activision. Halo Studios now employs a significantly smaller team that will support already-released Halo games like Halo: The Master Chief Collection and Halo Infinite, but future games in the series–including the rumored reboot–will be made at Activision.
Halo Studios was rumored to be working on Halo 2 and Halo 3 remakes, as well as a new live-service Halo game. That was before the big changes, however, and it’s been reported that Activision is working on a Halo reboot.