Halo’s secret battle royale project, codenamed Project Tatanka, was never truly cancelled. New leak reports from April 2026 confirm it has been rebuilt as a PvE extraction shooter under the codename Project Ekker, running on Unreal Engine 5, and may be Halo’s next major multiplayer project.
Project Tatanka, the long-rumoured Halo battle royale that was quietly shelved in 2023, did not die. It evolved. New verified leak reports published on April 22, 2026 confirm that the project was rebuilt under a new codename, Project Ekker, transitioned from the troubled Slipspace Engine to Unreal Engine 5, and redesigned as a PvE extraction shooter. Multiple sources indicate it may now be the next major standalone multiplayer project in the Halo franchise.
What Was Project Tatanka?
Project Tatanka was not simply a game mode bolted onto Halo Infinite. It was a separate PvP title co-developed by 343 Industries and Certain Affinity using the Slipspace Engine. The premise placed players inside a UNSC training simulation set immediately after Halo Infinite’s campaign, preparing Spartans for what they would face on Zeta Halo. Classic multiplayer maps including Blood Gulch and Valhalla were built into its overworld, with players dropping in via pods, which sounded genuinely exciting on paper.
Development reached the point where both studios were playtesting together twice a week. But by late 2022, several converging problems made the project unsustainable:
- The battle royale genre had become deeply saturated, with Fortnite dominating the space and competing realistically proving unrealistic.
- Many developers felt certain mechanics were fun, but the overall concept was not strong enough to justify a full release.
- The Slipspace Engine was technically difficult to work with, and 343 Industries had already begun planning a shift to Unreal Engine 5.
- Mass layoffs at 343 Industries in January 2023 gutted the teams most familiar with the project.
343 Industries paused its side of Tatanka development while Certain Affinity continued. The consensus internally was that the design needed massive changes before anything could move forward. That rethink became the origin of what is now known as Project Ekker.
What Is Project Ekker and Why Does It Make Sense?
Project Ekker is the codename for Tatanka’s successor, discovered in Halo API files by data miner Grunt API and subsequently confirmed by multiple independent sources. According to the April 2026 report from investigative Halo journalist Rebs Gaming, Ekker was actively being developed as a PvE extraction shooter at least through the end of summer 2023.
Swapping battle royale for extraction shooter is a notably smart pivot for the Halo brand. Here is why the format fits:
- Extraction shooters reward team coordination and tactical play, which aligns naturally with Spartan squad lore.
- A PvE focus brings iconic Halo enemies like the Covenant and Flood back to centre stage rather than making other players the primary threat.
- The genre was growing in 2023 and 2024 rather than contracting, unlike the battle royale space that Tatanka would have entered years too late.
- It gives Halo Studios a way to offer a new experience without cannibalising the classic multiplayer audience.
The investigative report drew a comparison to Call of Duty’s unified front-end model, where traditional multiplayer and Warzone exist separately but are accessed through the same hub. Ekker could function the same way alongside whatever the next mainline Halo multiplayer looks like.
Is Ekker Confirmed to Be in Active Development?
The honest answer is: confirmed with caveats. The April 2026 report states that most developers with direct knowledge of Ekker either left in the January 2023 layoffs or departed shortly after, making full independent confirmation difficult. However, multiple sources told the investigative reporter that Ekker is Halo’s next multiplayer project. A separate source who left before receiving direct confirmation suggested an alternative scenario: Ekker may have been absorbed into the multiplayer portion of the next mainline Halo game rather than shipped as a standalone title.
Either outcome keeps Ekker alive in some form. The codename was also independently verified by Halo data miner Grunt API inside the Halo API file structure, which adds a layer of credibility beyond anonymous sourcing alone. For a December 2026 HaloFest event, the reporter expects Halo Studios to announce new projects, and Ekker or its successor concept is expected to be among them.
How This Fits Into Halo’s Bigger Rebuild
Context matters here. The studio formerly known as 343 Industries rebranded as Halo Studios in October 2024, coinciding with its public announcement that all future Halo games would be built in Unreal Engine 5 rather than the proprietary Slipspace Engine. Multiple projects were confirmed to be in simultaneous development at that time.
The most publicly known of those projects is Halo: Campaign Evolved, a ground-up remake of Halo: Combat Evolved’s campaign confirmed for Xbox Series X/S, PC, and PlayStation 5 in 2026. It marks Halo’s first-ever release on a Sony console, a major franchise shift. Within that broader context, Ekker represents the multiplayer side of Halo Studios’ ambition: a new format that could attract players who were never engaged by Halo Infinite’s competitive multiplayer while keeping the series lore and world-building at the centre of the experience.
From Tatanka to Ekker: A Clear Timeline
| Period | What Happened |
|---|---|
| 2021–2022 | Project Tatanka co-developed by 343 Industries and Certain Affinity on Slipspace Engine as a standalone PvP title |
| Late 2022 | 343 Industries pauses development; concept reviewed for major redesign due to genre concerns and engine issues |
| January 2023 | Mass layoffs at 343 Industries; core Tatanka team largely disbanded |
| 2023 | Project Ekker begins development on Unreal Engine 5 as a PvE extraction shooter |
| October 2024 | Certain Affinity designer Mike Clopper publicly confirms the cancelled battle royale existed via LinkedIn update |
| April 22, 2026 | New verified leak report confirms Ekker’s extraction shooter format and its status as a likely next Halo multiplayer project |
What Players Are Asking About This
What exactly is an extraction shooter?
An extraction shooter is a game mode or genre where players drop into a hostile environment, collect resources or objectives, and must successfully exit the map to keep their rewards. It is typically high-stakes because dying means losing what you collected. Games like Escape from Tarkov and Hunt: Showdown popularised the format. A PvE-focused version inside the Halo universe could lean into cooperative Spartan missions with escalating enemy encounters rather than purely player-versus-player tension.
Is Certain Affinity still working on this?
According to verified leak reports, Certain Affinity transitioned work from Tatanka into the Ekker project on Unreal Engine. The extent of their current involvement is unconfirmed given the significant staff turnover since early 2023, but they have been identified as a continuing development partner throughout the rebrand.
Will this ever actually ship?
No official announcement or release window exists for Ekker. The investigative reporter who broke the April 2026 story expects Halo Studios to surface new project details at HaloFest in December 2026. Whether Ekker ships as a standalone game or as a mode within the next mainline Halo title remains the central open question.
How does this relate to Halo: Campaign Evolved?
Halo: Campaign Evolved is a separate project entirely. It is a full remake of the original Halo: Combat Evolved campaign built on Unreal Engine 5, targeting Xbox Series X/S, PC, and PlayStation 5 in 2026. Ekker, by contrast, is focused on multiplayer. Halo Studios has confirmed multiple projects are in development simultaneously, meaning both can coexist on the current roadmap.
