Rumors of a Halo MMO being in development by Ensemble Studios, the company behind the upcoming Halo Wars which Microsoft is closing, have been flying around for more than two years. Rumors which according to research made by Gamasutra are now more fact than fiction. Apparently, The Halo MMO was in development in 2006 and some part of 2007.

The biggest piece of evidence is the released concept screenshots showing the user interface and levels of the project, released by The ‘Gone Is Gone’ blog. Gamasutra talked to Massively.com lead blogger Michael Zenke about the screenshots who stated, “Clearly broken Halo Warthogs, dead marines, a color palette last seen in Halo PC multiplayer levels like ‘Infinity’. The presence of an actual Halo in the background of the last shot is also a dead giveaway.”

Interesting indeed. A Halo MMO could definitely acquire a lot of players, mainly because Halo is a very lucrative franchise with a big variety of followers, but also because people might be getting fed up with elves and dwarves. To suddenly exclude a Halo MMO from the list of possible games in the future is a bit rash though, don’t be surprised if similar projects are revealed in the future.