Activision Is Developing the Next Halo Game as Xbox Restructures Halo Studios

The future of Halo has taken a dramatic turn.

Microsoft has officially announced that Activision will develop the next mainline Halo title, marking a major change for one of Xbox’s most recognizable franchises. The announcement comes as Microsoft continues a broad restructuring of its gaming organization, including 268 additional job eliminations across Halo Studios, other first-party teams and Xbox Game Studios’ management and central functions.

For the first time, the next major Halo game will be led by a new team operating under Activision rather than being developed primarily by Halo Studios.

And while the change raises plenty of questions about where the franchise goes next, Microsoft has already made one thing clear: Halo isn’t being handed over to the Call of Duty development teams themselves.

Activision Is Taking the Lead on the Next Halo

The announcement came through an internal Xbox message from Matt Booty, Xbox’s Chief Content Officer, published by Xbox Wire on September 22.

According to Booty’s announcement, Activision will develop the next Halo title using a new, purpose-built team. Microsoft specifically says this team will be separate from Activision’s ongoing Call of Duty development and plans.

That distinction is important.

The news doesn’t mean that the next Halo game is simply going to be made by the developers currently working on Call of Duty. Instead, Activision is assembling a dedicated team for Microsoft’s sci-fi shooter franchise.

Meanwhile, a smaller team at Halo Studios will remain involved with the existing Halo ecosystem, including supporting the community and games currently on the market.

Halo Studios Has Been Hit by Layoffs

The change in development leadership comes alongside another difficult day for Microsoft’s gaming division.

Xbox confirmed that 268 roles are being eliminated across Halo Studios, other first-party studios and the Xbox Game Studios management and central functions layer.

Microsoft says the latest actions bring its broader restructuring effort to roughly three-quarters completion.

The layoffs are part of a much larger restructuring that Xbox began earlier in 2026.

The changes have affected multiple parts of Microsoft’s gaming organization, with studios being reorganized, separated from Xbox or moved under different divisions.

For Halo Studios, however, the most significant change is undoubtedly the transfer of development responsibility for the next mainline game.

What Happens to Halo Studios Now?

Halo Studios isn’t disappearing completely.

Microsoft says a small team will continue supporting the Halo community and existing games.

That means Halo Studios will still have a role within the franchise, but its position has changed considerably.

The next major Halo title will instead be handled by Activision’s new team.

This creates an unusual situation for one of Xbox’s flagship franchises: the studio carrying the Halo name will no longer be the primary developer of the next mainline entry.

Why Activision?

Microsoft hasn’t provided a detailed explanation for why Activision was selected to lead development of the next Halo.

However, Activision has enormous experience producing large-scale first-person shooters, most notably through the Call of Duty franchise.

The next Halo team will be separate from Call of Duty development, but Activision’s experience with multiplayer systems, large-scale shooter production and long-running live games could potentially be relevant to the project.

What that means for the actual gameplay remains unknown.

Microsoft hasn’t revealed the game’s title, release date, story, platforms or gameplay direction.

Don’t Expect “Call of Duty: Halo”

One of the biggest questions among fans will inevitably be whether Activision’s involvement could make Halo feel more like Call of Duty.

At this point, there is no evidence that Microsoft intends to turn Halo into Call of Duty.

In fact, Xbox’s announcement specifically states that the new Halo development team will be separate from Activision’s ongoing Call of Duty plans.

That means the actual creative direction of the next Halo remains unknown.

The new team will have to establish its own approach to the franchise while maintaining the elements that define Halo.

Whether that ultimately results in major gameplay changes is something we simply don’t know yet.

This Isn’t Activision’s First Halo Conversation

Interestingly, today’s announcement follows reports from earlier this year suggesting that Microsoft had already explored the possibility of Activision working on Halo.

Previous reports had discussed an Activision and Sledgehammer Games proposal involving a Halo multiplayer project. At the time, however, reports indicated that the proposal had not been approved.

Today’s Xbox announcement changes that situation considerably.

This is no longer simply a rumor about Activision potentially helping with Halo.

Microsoft has now officially confirmed that Activision is developing the next Halo title.

Other Major Xbox Studios Are Also Being Restructured

The Halo announcement is only one piece of Microsoft’s latest Xbox overhaul.

Activision is also expanding its remit to include World’s Edge, the studio associated with Age of Empires, and Rare, the developer behind Sea of Thieves.

Elsewhere, Bethesda will expand its remit to include Obsidian, while King will take responsibility for Microsoft’s casual games division.

Microsoft is also bringing Playground Games and Turn 10 Studios together as one studio, with the combined team focusing on the Forza and Fable franchises.

The restructuring therefore goes far beyond Halo.

What Happens to Ninja Theory?

Another major development concerns Ninja Theory, the studio behind Hellblade.

Xbox says two separate agreements involving the studio fell through. Microsoft will now begin consultation with employees regarding a proposed closure, while continuing to explore other possibilities.

Meanwhile, consultation involving Arkane remains ongoing and is expected to continue through the end of the year.

Other studios have already moved toward independence. Microsoft says Compulsion Games and Double Fine have returned to independent management, while Undead Labs has also transitioned under similar terms and will continue work toward State of Decay 3.

What Do We Actually Know About the Next Halo?

For now, the official information is surprisingly limited.

Detail Status

Next Halo game Confirmed

Developer Activision

Development team New purpose-built team

Halo Studios involvement Small team supporting existing games/community

Release date Not announced

Title Not announced

Story Unknown

Gameplay Unknown

Platforms Not announced

Call of Duty team developing it No — separate team

Official confirmation Yes

So while the headline is enormous, we don’t yet know what the actual game will look like.

What Could This Mean for Halo’s Future?

The immediate future of Halo is now tied to a development team that hasn’t even been publicly detailed.

That makes almost everything beyond the basic announcement speculation.

Will the next game continue the story established by Halo Infinite?

Will it introduce a completely new storyline?

Will multiplayer once again be a major focus?

Will the game use the same technology associated with previous Halo titles?

Microsoft hasn’t answered those questions.

The company has simply confirmed that Activision will be developing the next title.

Geeksterr Take

For Halo, this is one of the biggest development changes in the franchise’s modern history.

The series has moved through several major creative eras since Bungie handed the reins to 343 Industries, which was later rebranded as Halo Studios. Now, the next major chapter will come from somewhere completely different.

Activision brings decades of first-person-shooter experience to the table, but the next team still has an enormous challenge: making a Halo game that feels unmistakably like Halo.

The fact that Microsoft is creating a dedicated team rather than simply handing the project to an existing Call of Duty studio makes the situation particularly interesting.

For now, though, we’re waiting for the game itself.

There is no release date, no gameplay footage and no official information about the story.

What we do know is this:

The next Halo has officially left Halo Studios’ primary development hands and is moving to a new Activision-led team.

And whatever comes next could define the direction of the franchise for years.

What do you think about Activision developing the next Halo?