According to leaker Rebs, Halo Studios had planned to adapt the novel Halo: First Strike into a standalone campaign, alongside planning remasters for Halo 2 and Halo 3, as well as Halo 7. These were all previous plans of the studio, and the current status of these projects remains uncertain.
This leak emerged following news of staff adjustments at Halo Studios. Reports indicate that the studio currently has only about 20 employees remaining, with responsibilities for the Halo series having been taken over by Activision.
Halo: First Strike, written by Eric Nylund, bridges the story between Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2. According to Rebs, the adaptation project was still in early development at the time, with a target release in 2027 and plans for approximately five campaign missions and a skirmish mode.
In addition to the novel adaptation project, Rebs stated that Halo Studios had been developing remasters of Halo 2 and Halo 3, though these titles were still several years away from release. Content related to Halo 2 had also been hinted at in the ending of Halo: Combat Evolved.
Halo 7 was reportedly in the conceptual stage at the time. Rebs mentioned that its proposal had been presented to Xbox executives such as Matt Booty before the studio's recent restructuring, with planned launch content including a campaign, player-versus-player, co-op, and Forge mode.
Rebs also stated that Pierre Hintze, head of Halo Studios, remains with the studio and hopes to continue advancing smaller-scale Halo projects while seeking external development resources for remasters. It remains unclear whether these plans will proceed following the personnel changes.