Halo 7 Has a New Lead Designer

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343 Industries has hired Dan Gniady, previously of Bungie and Creative Assembly, to serve as the new lead designer for the next mainline entry in the Halo franchise. Halo is one of Microsoft's biggest first-party IPs, and while the series was started by Bungie, development duties for the series were taken over by 343 Industries following Halo 3. The developer is expected to be working on a follow-up to the 2021 title Halo: Infinite based on recent teasers from Microsoft and job listings by the developer.

Not much is known about Halo 7 as it hasn't officially been announced by Microsoft. While Halo: Infinite is still being maintained today with the most recent patch being the Tenrai IV Operation update, some fans believe that Infinite has been losing steam with each update. With 343 Industries opening some new positions in March, some have speculated that work may have begun on Halo 7. These rumors continue to build as Dan Gniady has now been brought on as the next game's designer.

In a video by RebsGaming recapping what is known about Halo 7's current development, it was announced that 343 Industries had hired Dan Gniady, with Gniady posting on his LinkedIn page to celebrate the new position. Gniady was previously the lead designer on the canceled Hyenas game at Creative Assembly, along with being a gameplay designer at Bungie for a decade. "After speaking with a ton of cool teams about rad projects I’m getting a shot to work with the Chief and friends," Gniady said. "I love Halo and am very excited to be a part of adding to its legacy."

The only other thing known about the next game is that Halo 7 will supposedly be built using Unreal Engine based on a job listing from last year. Other details highlighted in RebsGaming's video is how pre-production work was completed between 2022 and 2023, with developers hard at work on the creative direction for future Halo projects, including narrative, characters, and more.

After speaking with a ton of cool teams about rad projects I’m getting a shot to work with the Chief and friends. I love Halo and am very excited to be a part of adding to its legacy.

Microsoft still hasn't officially announced the seventh entry in the mainline Halo franchise. There are a few different directions in which the story of Halo 7 could go, with the easiest route being to continue the story started in Halo: Infinite. For the time being, fans will need to wait for more official information to be given by 343 Industries or Microsoft about the future of Halo.