If you’ve been holding out for Halo to return to its glory days, consider this Halo 7 teaser your reward. It isn’t much, but it’ll instil more confidence in you regarding the direction of the new game.

For good or ill, we can’t ignore Halo; our devotion might often bite us in the butt, but sometimes our patience pays off.

As spotted by eagle eyed fans, a new lead game designer has joined 343 Industries to help with Halo 7.

The name Dan Gniady might not be well known to you, but their work likely is; having worked on Destiny 2, as well as collaborating on Halo Wars 2, Gniady feels like the perfect person to take charge.

In their updated work profile, we see a reference that’s sure to get OG fans salivating. It reads, “Giving the Covenant their bomb back”.

This is thrilling enough, but then Gniady posted an image of them with Atriox, arguably one of the most intimidating villains of the franchise. The image caption reads, “He’s not so big.”

It could be a red herring, or it could be hinting at an upcoming fight between Atriox and Master Chief.

Alongside the speculation this has triggered, there’s also rumours circulating that claim the new game will bring back the series’ creator.

All of these quiet teases are adding to the hype; however, fans aren’t ready to wait it out until Halo 7 launches.

“Wake me up in [three to four] years,” joked Redditor joevsyou, to which someone else added, “For the announcement teaser.”

Other quips about the upcoming title came too, though these are more barbed; “So, they’re planning on rebooting again? I’m sure fourth time is the charm for 343i,” remarked one fan.

Fans are desperate for Halo to hit its stride once more, but they’re not certain this latest teaser proves that’ll happen.

Spanning across the last 20-years and still counting, the Halo series has captured the hearts of millions of players all over the world and this upcoming expansion proves just that.

First launching back in 2001, the sci-fi FPS series Halo has gone on to receive six mainline entries as well as multiple spin-offs, television adaptations and books.

Check out the most recent Halo entry, Halo Infinite, below!

Created by Bungie before being handed over to 343 Industries, the franchise is still going strong with the latest entry, Halo Infinite being released in 2021.

Although the next entry is yet to be confirmed, there have been rumours of Halo 7 arriving pretty soon but until then, this fan-made Halo “horror narrative experience” is bound to keep us entertained… or scared out of our minds.

Created by Kaleb Nekumanesh, an environment art director, this is a “fan-made short 15-30 minute experience with narrative, combat and puzzles”.

Made using Unreal Engine 5, this story will take place on the Mona Lisa, a prison ship that has mysteriously come to rest with the fate of its crew unknown.

“Return to Alpha Halo and learn the mysteries of the Mona Lisa while trying to survive a flood outbreak,” Nekumanesh writes. “This fan-made Halo experience made in UE5 will be releasing soon, stay tuned!”

The announcement comes alongside a short teaser trailer giving us a look at this brand-new Halo experience. We see the ruined ship complete with eerily quiet corridors and floating bodies before we head to the airlock and overlook the galaxies beyond.

The trailer ends with an explosion before its title, The Mona Lisa, appears on the screen.

Nekumanesh has announced that the game will be added to itch.io when it is complete but this is something Halo fans will not want to miss out on.

An ex-Halo Infinite developer has created a brand-new Halo game with Unreal Engine 5, and you’ll be able to play it for free soon.

Rumours have said the next Halo game will be made using Unreal Engine 5, meaning this project could be our first glimpse as to what that could look like.

Have you played Elden Ring: Shadow Of The Erdtree yet? Check out our review below

Fittingly, it’s been said Xbox is in the process of remaking Halo: Combat Evolved, and this project made by an ex-Halo Infinite developer is set during the same time in Halo’s history.

The title will see players stuck on a desolate ship floating through space, one that hardcore fans will instantly recognise as the Mona Lisa.

While onboard, you’re attacked by infected Flood combatants, making it one of the scariest Halo experiences since climbing through the infested High Charity level in Halo 3.

You’ll stalk your way through the ship armed with a trusty assault rifle and flashlight, in a desperate fight for survival while Alpha Halo floats ominously outside.

Keep in mind that this game is being made by one person, so don’t expect the same length, detail and polish you’d see in fully-developed Halo games, though to be fair I don’t think we’ve seen that since Halo: Reach anyway…

It gives Alien: Isolation vibes, and the best part is it’ll be made readily available to any and all players upon completion.

If rumours are to be believed and the next Halo game is being made with Unreal Engine 5, this might be our best chance of getting a sneak-peek as to what that could possibly look like.

At the time of writing there’s no release date for this return to Alpha Halo, though hopefully it comes out sooner rather than later, as Halo desperately needs another exciting release, even a fan-made one.

A Halo game made with Unreal Engine 5 is supposedly in development with 343 Industries, fingers-crossed it’s a good one.

The Halo franchise is in a bit of a bleak place at the time of writing. The latest game in the series, Halo Infinite, has only just made a comeback following years of post-launch support updates, and it’s still got a way to go at that.

Check out some of the latest stuff added to Halo Infinite’s multiplayer below

Then there’s the god-awful Halo TV series, which is somehow getting a second season despite the outrage from fans.

Fear not though Xbox fans, there’s a glimmer of hope on the horizon. Another game is reportedly in development with 343 Industries though very little is known about it at the time of writing. However, we do know that if the reports are true, it’s been in development since early 2022.

According to the LinkedIn of Justin Dinges, who worked on Halo 4 and Halo 5 before eventually becoming Game Director for Halo Infinite, they worked from April 2022 to March 2023, on “Halo’s next unannounced release” as an Art Director.

Adding further credibility to the report is Ian Slutz’s LinkedIn profile. Slutz worked as a Senior Character Systems Designer at 343 Industries for several years and has since updated their job description to include “player systems and assets in Unreal Engine 5.”

Take this with a pinch of salt as 343 Industries and Xbox are yet to confirm if another game is on the way. It was widely believed that Halo Infinite was to last fans for a decade, receiving updates to its singleplayer and multiplayer featuring expansion-type content. While the multiplayer is still receiving updates in the form of new seasons it seems the singleplayer DLC has been scrapped, adding further credibility to a new game being on the way.

The only thing we can do now is wait and see if anything gets announced later this year, though with the last few games being rather disappointing additions to the series, hopes aren’t high amongst the fanbase.