On Friday, a new gaming industry leak hit the internet, and this time it involves 25 years of Halo franchise history including a demo from 1999.
Big gaming studios and developers are no stranger to leaks. The Pokemon Company, Incomniac Games, Rockstar Games and the many Nintendo Switch 2 leaks/rumours are only a few examples of the torrential downpour that has hit the internet far before the information was supposed to. Today is an exception, a leak has happened spanning from many years ago involving the storied Microsoft Sci-Fi franchise, Halo, and almost 25 years of buried game development content has spilled onto the internet.
The content leaked is reportedly from as early as 1998 at Bungie, when the studio was hard at work on Oni and Halo: Combat Evolved, and can be traced back to Microsoft, the formerly titled 343 Games Studio and the hiring of the mod team Digsite who had been working with 343 since last summer to restore cut content from Combat Evolved (like multiplayer for PC) and other classic titles in the franchise.
Digsite reported last year that they’ve “entered the darkest depths of ancient folders and shone a light into the deepest corners of Halo history, delving into that secret tenth circle of Hell (the cutting room floor of game development)” and that cutting room floor, is what was allegedly leaked today. InsiderGaming initially reported known X (formerly Twitter) dataminer/leaker VISCERAL was the first to spot the leak yesterday afternoon, and since then a former modder for Digsite called DogbrainLudus confirmed it on an X post that can be seen below.
Other former Digsite members took to X to explain the severity of the leak, and shed light on why the content hasn’t come to light since development. Former Digsite member and X user, Sean T posted a thread explaining why they believe the Halo restoration project failed and its due to an alleged lack of resources and alleged mistreatment from 343/Halo Studios, and another member mentioned an entire early play build of the original Halo can be played in third person.
It’s worth mentioning Microsoft and Halo Studios have yet to confirm the leak or comment on their existence, so fans should the information presented in the leaks with a grain of salt until confirmation has been made.
