New “High Profile” Halo Experience Will Involve Exciting Industrial Design, Vehicles and More

Giuseppe Nelva May 8, 2014 8:31 AM EST

343 Industries is hard at work on the Halo franchise, and today we get more information on what they’re laboring on (or on what they might be working on in the future), thanks to a career opportunity ad seeking a Senior Concept Artist.

Here is an excerpt of the post:

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Microsoft Game Studios’ Halo team is looking for a sharp eye and a deft hand to help breathe a fresh vision into a new Halo experience. Teamwork, innovation, attention-to-detail and unbridled passion are characteristics we look for in all of our artists. If you are a top talent looking for an exciting, high profile project to challenge you, this is where you need to be.

The Senior Concept Artist is central in establishing the overall vision of the universe, working with the Art Director to create imagery that will communicate the visual experience, excite the team, and help blueprint all the aspects of the game for content authoring. He/she should bring a world class understanding of composition and color, a strong ability to render exciting industrial design, and a firm grasp of the practical aspects of content creation.

Requirements:

– Character concept art expertise at a very high level but with the ability to convey strong design through a whole spectrum of work including: environments, vehicles, props, weapons.

– Emphasis on strong design with extensive science fiction experience

– Great tridimensional sense, able to translate designs and create multiple views of the same object or character.

-Have a creative workflow that permits iteration and idea brainstorming in a fast way.

– Adaptability to work fast on brainstorming tasks and the drive to deliver more time consuming finished pieces.

RESPONSIBILITIES

– Work closely with the Art Director and other Artists to define the look of the project, from global ‘broad stroke vision’ and mood to its specific, individual pieces.

– Develop and maintain a strong understanding of the game universe and the constraints of the technology.

– Be proactive about seeking feedback and communication with the Art Director and other relevant departments.

– Assist the Art Director and other Senior Concept Artists in providing studio feedback during the course of production.

– Provide support to the Art Director in managing external concept art resources.

– Constructively participate in regular team meetings.

– Mentor less-experienced concept artists.

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While it’d be easy to chalk this ad as related to the next Halo (whether it’ll be called Halo 5 or not), Microsoft has been hiring for what seems to be a new team, as shown by the ads related to three producers (including a Lead) published a few days ago, and that’s normally the telltale sign of a new project.

Concept designers are also normally hired very early in a game’s development (for obvious reasons), so this might be just another sign that a fully new game is being planned. That said, whatever the ads is for, it’ll involve “exciting industrial design” and vehicles.

If it’s indeed a fully new game, we probably won’t hear officially about it for a while. Given the usual development cycle of two and a half years, it won’t come out before the end of 2016.