The developer is already working on the next Halo products

Dec 6, 2012 14:40 GMT  ·  By

Work on the next game in the Halo franchise – Halo 5 – is already underway, as the development director for the series has confirmed that some members of 343 Industries, the developer of Halo 4, are already prototyping ideas for future Halo products.

Microsoft's Halo franchise is probably its most profitable intellectual property and the company already confirmed that the recently released Halo 4 marks the start of a new trilogy.

Now, 343 Industries' franchise development director, Frank O'Connor, has revealed that quite a few members of the studio have already begun work on the next installment.

"A lot of people at 343 are already prototyping ideas and software and art for future Halo products," he told CVG.

"I can't say more than that, but work on the game started actually before we launched Halo 4 and continues apace as we cycle staff through the team's vacation breaks. We're excited about the next game."

While O'Connor didn't confirm outright that the next game is Halo 5, it makes sense to continue the numbered series and not explore spinoffs like Halo ODST or Halo Reach.

What's more, the director also revealed that the studio has yet to decide if it's going to work on a Spartan Ops Season 2 of DLC, as it's still analyzing the feedback players give it in regards to the current episodic add-ons for the special mode.

"Spartan Ops season 2 is yet to be decided, we're looking at how the first season does," said O'Connor.

"We got such great responses from [live-action web series] Forward Unto Dawn and Spartan Ops that we're pretty happy with it and we're learning a lot of really interesting stuff for the future. You are going to see a spectrum of Halo support though the next year and beyond."

Until a new Halo game appears, you can expect to see quite a lot of new content for Halo 4, in the form of new Spartan Ops episodes and multiplayer map packs.