- Fan produced Halo mod 'ElDewrito' has ceased development after Microsoft intervenes
- The mod was being made on the Halo Online engine and tools
- There is optimism for community modding support with the release of Halo 6
ElDewrito is the latest in a line of community mods that has been told to cease development, after Open IV for GTA 5 last year (although that was susequently resolved after massive backlash) and Project Liberty for Fallout 4 earlier in the year.
Halo Online was a Halo 3 version released to the Russian audience, but assets were used by the ElDewrito team in the development of the mod. ElDewrito allows for the version to be played without region restrictions.
On the Halowaypoint blog, a 343Industries representative posted this.
"Halo Online faded and fell off the radar until the recent exposure of the .6 update shined a new light on the current ElDewrito project. While we are humbled and inspired to see the amount of passion poured into this project, the fact remains that it’s built upon Microsoft-owned assets that were never lawfully released or authorized for this purpose"
The ElDewrito team had this to say about the move.
"Unfortunately, 343 Industries and Microsoft have noticed it’s success, and have reached out to us regarding potential legal action, and have requested we temporarily halt development"
"There was no Cease and Desist, no DMCA, just an brief conversation about what they suggest we do."
This is some strange wording considering the nature of the event - the mod has ceased development as per a studio request, however nothing massive in terms of legal action.
This could mean a dialogue was opened between the ElDewrito team and 343 about the modding implications of Halo 6. It's already been confirmed that Halo 6 will be makings its way to Windows 10 users, and Halo 5's forge already has some sophisticated modding tools on board.
In an update, the 343 team also added that the posting of footage of ElDewrito could also result in legal action - here's the details.
"Because ElDewrito is built upon Microsoft-owned Halo Online content that was never lawfully released or authorized for this purpose, streaming or building content from the mod could result in action taken against your account"
We're hoping that the ElDewrito team find a way to continue their work - it's great to see members of the community carry the torch.
