After 15 years, 343 Industries/Halo Studios is shutting down with the next major instalment in the franchise set to be helmed by a new studio under Activision. Despite this, there are still multiple projects in the works for fans of the games’ lore, including a new book following the newly re-formed Noble Team from Halo: Reach.
In the final instance of the studio’s Canon Fodder newsletter, Halo Studios confirmed that multiple books are still in the works. Next month, a new novel titled Parasite’s Wake will release and a newly-edited omnibus of The Fall of Reach, The Flood, and First Strike will launch with a gorgeous hardback edition in November.
Alongside these novels, Halo Studios discussed the previously announced Halo: Fireteam Noble and the new story Halo: Burn the Road Home. The former story has been penned by veteran novelist Troy Denning, who has written many stories for the franchise including Silent Storm and Oblivion, but Halo Studios can’t guarantee its release.
Set for 2027, the new novel will follow a reformed Fireteam Noble from Halo Reach with the original team’s sole survivor, Jun, after the events of Halo 5. “Beginning in April 2560, following the loss of the Avery J. Johnson Academy, the Spartans are reeling from recently sustained losses,” the synopsis reads. “Laconia, Nysa, the continued disappearance of the UNSC Infinity… it’s a big, bad galaxy out there and the power vacuum in the wake of Cortana’s demise continues to offer no end of dangers for humanity.”
The story is set to follow Jun after the events of Reach as he fights alongside his new team, picking back up the Noble Team moniker. Unfortunately, it’s release isn’t guaranteed, but the studio is pushing to see the project to completion alongside Burn the Road Home.
As for the second story, this short novella is also scheduled to launch next year, and the studio explained that a lot of the book is already finished. However, with Xbox’s layoffs scrapping the studio’s narrative team and editorial staff, there’s a significant change that this book won’t get to see the light of day.
“As with Fireteam Noble, we are determined to see this through to completion,” the studio noted, while admitting there is a chance that the project, as well as others, will be cancelled after the team’s final days.
The studio also noted that they have worked hard to schedule even more Waypoint Chronicles stories to go live on Halo Waypoint after their departures. There’s also plans for a second volume of the Waypoint Chronicles book, although there’s a possibility that this won’t happen, either.
“Unfortunately we have not been able to create audiobook versions of these due to (*gestures around*) y’know, all this, but at the very least you will have the text to devour,” they added. “As much of the work is already done, it is also our hope that a Volume Two print anthology, ebook, and audiobook will be able to release later in 2027.”
As Halo Studios fizzles down, there’s a hope that the universe they’ve helped maintain won’t be ditched. If Activision wants to reboot the series, that means Bungie’s decade-long tenure on the series will also be scrapped, including The Fall of Reach, Contact Harvest, First Strike, Ghosts of Onyx, and more. If anything, that’s just a massive waste.
