Halo team seeking devs with MMO experience

Microsoft has put out a call for staffers with massively multiplayer online game development experience to join 343 Industries to work on future Halo projects. Two job listings at 343 Industries were posted yesterday, both for software development engineers who will work on "building the next generation of backend services to power Halo 4 and our new game saga."

These job listings follow additional requisitions posted last week that indicated 343 Industries was staffing up for mystery "incubation projects." A Microsoft representative declined to comment.

If Microsoft is building a Halo MMO, it will not be the first time the company has done so. The Microsoft-owned (and now defunct) Ensemble Studios spent three years on a Halo MMORPG codenamed Titan that reportedly held a $90 million budget before it was canceled in 2007.

Microsoft shipped Halo 4 earlier this month to a warm critical reception and day-one sales of $220 million. Halo 5 and Halo 6 have been confirmed as part of the Reclaimer Trilogy, though platforms for these games have not been revealed.

Job listings from July suggest 343 Industries is at work on a Halo game for a next-generation platform. Microsoft will reportedly have its next Xbox on store shelves during the back half of 2013.