News:Archive/29 May 2009/Jobs on the Halo team

Intro
Microsoft is currently advertising job openings on the Halo team, who will have the opportunity to work on what Microsoft Game Studios is calling "a new game in the Halo universe" and "a new Halo experience".

News
There are currently seven vacancies for jobs on the Halo team, including Animators, Artists, Software Development Engineers and Game Designers. One lucky Software Developer will be given the chief responsibility of Senior AI Developer, where they will be responsible for implementing "path finding" and "behavior state" systems. Sadly these type of A.I. characteristics don't really help to give a clue about the genre of the upcoming game, although a Game Designer vacancy does describe "Experience designing multiplayer experiences, social/community and RPG systems," as, "a plus".

The fact that there are seven vacancies would lead one to believe that the project is in its infancy, with Microsoft stating in one of the job ads: "We are gathering an incredible team to help drive the future of Halo." In other words, don't wait with bated breath for an official announcement any time soon. Additionally, one of the Artist ads lists an "Expert understanding of next-gen game asset development processes," as one of its requirements, while another demands an "Expert understanding of next-gen game environment development processes," as an essential skill.

This may point to the game being destined for the Xbox 720. If the game is still in its planning stages, as these listings suggest, then it is somewhat unlikely to arrive either this year or in 2010, and 2011/12 would be treading on the doorstep of the next gen system.

Last of all, these job ads were posted by MGS this month and are clearly not intended for Bungie's Halo 3: ODST project.