Project Ekur was reportedly being developed as an extraction shooter before pivoting to a team-based battle title.
The Halo multiplayer game reportedly explored the extraction genre at one point
Photo Credit: Microsoft/ Halo Studios
A multiplayer Halo game in development at Halo Studios has reportedly been cancelled. The multiplayer title, codenamed “Project Ekur,” is said to have had a rocky development cycle, with developers exploring several options for what the game could be. Now, the game is reportedly no longer in development.
The information comes from noted Halo insider Rebs Gaming, who claimed in a new video report that Halo Studios had cancelled Project Ekur, its next multiplayer Halo game. The reporter said he received confirmation on the state of the project from multiple Halo Studios employees, who said that the game was no longer in development.
It's unclear when and why Project Ekur was cancelled, but part of the development team working on the multiplayer game was reportedly moved to work on Halo: Campaign Evolved, the Halo: Combat Evolved remake coming later this month. According to Rebs Gaming's sources, the remake project ran into major development problems. “Sometime after that, Ekur was cancelled,” he said, citing sources familiar with the matter.
Project Ekur came out of the ashes of Project Tatanka, an unannounced Halo Battle Royale game in development at Certain Affinity that was also cancelled in 2023. Certain Affinity then reportedly prototyped Project Ekur and later explored the extraction shooter genre for the game.
According to a previous Rebs Gaming report, the multiplayer game then pivoted to a team-based battle title where teams of players and AI companions would battle other teams on a map as they looked for resources. Development of the multiplayer game also reportedly changed hands from Certain Affinity to Halo Studios.
While the news of the reported cancellation of Project Ekur comes days after Xbox announced widespread layoffs, it's unclear if development on the Halo game was halted as part of the broader cuts at the company.
Halo Studios is set to release Halo: Campaign Evolved on July 28 across PC, PS5, and Xbox Series S/X. The studio, formerly 343 Industries, is also said to be actively developing remakes of Halo 2 and Halo 3. Those projects, however, remain unconfirmed. Halo Studios and Microsoft are also yet to reveal the next mainline Halo title.
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