Almost as if the latest speculation surrounding the Halo franchise has had their ears perked up, an eminent Xbox insider has candidly made known that the next outing for the series will exclude generative artificial intelligence from its core development. Jez Corden, a known reliable Xbox-spotting resource, took to social media to explain that such an affair wouldn’t be involving the controversial technology for this highly awaited project, specifically clarifying in one of his messages that no art assets are being produced with generative AI, thus directly disputing one of the latest rumors to the effect that both PlayStation and Microsoft prepare the integration of the emerging tools into first-party development pipelines.
Corden’s statement is indicative of a broader strategy to exclude generative AI, not simply an isolated decision exclusive to the franchise. No all-in mandate has been issued by Xbox Game Studios that obliges its filmmaker-sub studios to use such technology to produce creative content, the insider claims. Although Microsoft is aggressively injecting AI solutions, such like Copilot, into its Windows operating system, this has apparently been done more for purposes of general corporate administration-everything from e-mail management to assorted other internal organizational tasks-than as a core production technology for the most valued intellectual properties in their portfolio.
Like an essential argument in any technical discussion on AI in Halo, there’s a difference to be made here. Excluding generative AI-the kind that creates completely novel images, sounds, or text-neither rules out procedural generation types. This older form of algorithmic content that has been around in gaming for a long time has been used in everything from Minesweeper and Minecraft to how loot-drops are randomized in massive online role-playing games. Procedural generation is simply the creation of variations based on a more or less defined set of rules about pre-existing content, and it is technically separate from the generative models now fueling the industry debate.
As a fixture of Microsoft’s legacy in gaming, the Halo series has been quiet since its last entry halo infinite came in 2021. Also in the rumor mills along with the speculation of generative AI, there are rumors concerning a potential remake of Halo: Combat Evolved. The community quieted itself further in eager anticipation for some official word. Microsoft has advised fans anxious for the exact flavor of information to look toward the 2025 Halo World Championship, taking place Friday, October 24, at the Seattle Convention Center, as the next site for major updates regarding the franchise’s future direction.
