'Halo 5' Release Date This Year: Microsoft Hiring For Game's Development?

Microsoft seems to be hard at work on the next installment of “Halo,” judging by a stream of recent job listings on the company’s career site.

The Redmond, Washington-based software and media company is known for posting the primary studio associated with a specific job opening, such as Lionhead, 343 Industries or Microsoft Studios. By doing so, it gives an idea of what titles are being more aggressively developed.

If you look back at the postings through mid-April, 17 of the 44 job openings are for Kirkland, Washington-based video game developer 343 Industries, which was founded in 2007. 343i was behind 2010’s “Halo: Reach” and 2012’s “Halo 4.” The studio had around 340 employees as of a year ago.

343 Industries was founded by Microsoft Studios to oversee development of the “Halo” franchise, which includes novels, comics, video games and more. Last year during E3, it was confirmed that 343 was working on an untitled “Halo” game that would launch for the Xbox One in 2014.

It’s rumored that Microsoft will make a major “Halo” announcement at gaming convention E3 in Los Angeles next month. The last "Halo" title was "Halo: Spartan Assault," a third-person shooter that received mixed reviews upon its release in July last year.