Will Halo: The Endless Be A New Game?

Recently there was a rumor that Halo Infinite would be turning to Unreal Engine 5 for the future of the game and its modes.  The main factor fueling this rumor is the upcoming Battle Royale mode that is still heavily delayed and likely years out at this point, but also the upcoming campaign DLC that also seems to be delayed. However, is there more to the story when all of the factors are added together?

TL;DR:

• Halo: The Endless has been trademarked and sounds like a full game.
• It may be a simple campaign DLC.
• It may also be a major addition to Halo Infinite itself.
• Support seems strong for both sides.
• We currently have no evidence of what The Endless will be.

First, the Battle Royale mode is likely to arrive eventually as it continues to receive updates and has a dedicated studio to its production. However, many sources speculate it's release date will not be until 2024 at this point, making it an extremely delayed feature to add to Halo Infinite which released in 2021. Second, the campaign DLC that many people believe is called Halo: The Endless (due to the recent trademark) sounds to be more of a full game than an actual campaign DLC. The trademark itself lists numerous features of the title that go well and beyond what an entire game would have, plus being an entire trademark instead of a simple copyright also pushes the evidence that it is a new game and not an addition to the current game.

Gamers and the media have also jumped on this possibility as it would help explain the massive lack of content and commitment from 343i if their dev team is actually working on a new game instead of filling the obligations of Halo Infinite. While Halo Infinite was told to be the future of Halo for numerous years to come, the disaster roadmap and PR nightmare of the game is likely to be a hurdle that no studio will be able to overcome.

This makes it very believable that the studio and Microsoft have decided to turn the Battle Royale mode and the upcoming campaign editions into a brand new game instead of trying to patch together fixes for the current failure of the Halo series. It would also create an opening for the game to leave its currently problematic game engine and move to a new engine such as Unreal Engine 5.

Of course, there are numerous other explanations for this trademark as it could simply be a very glorified rebranding of Halo Infinite in a season called Halo: The Endless and will have tournaments and events based off "The Endless" name scheme.  There was also high possibilities that the trademark is simply to cover events and other activities that may be contained within a campaign add-on or some other major game DLC.  Or it may simply be the name of the future Halo game that we won't see until after 2030.

Months or more likely years will still be needed to see what 343i plans to do with the Halo Infinite series and how true they plan to hold their commitment to the game's 10-year plan. It is hard to see a studio hold firm with trying to commit to a game that can already be almost considered dead on some platforms and communities, but bailing on the game would likely not help the PR nightmare that Halo Infinite has become for the already struggling series.