Is Halo Studios planning to re-cast the voice of Master Chief and Cortana?

One of the most iconic things about the Halo series, perhaps even more than the ring worlds, is the audio. We're talking about the mighty soundtrack, but also the rumbling voice of the Master Chief.

The Chief's voice actor is Steve Downes, who is joined by Jen Taylor as Cortana. These two have been instrumental in making the Halo series so iconic, and in fact 343 Industries actually tried to replace them for Halo 4, but the test audience didn't like the new voices and the duo got the job back.

But... unfortunately, it doesn't seem entirely impossible that Halo Studios is once again having the same ideas. Rebs Gaming reports that Downes and Taylor revealed during a recent fan convention that they have not been approached about playing Master Chief and Cortana in any upcoming game. Now, we don't know how far 343 Industries has got on the next title in the series, but Halo Infinite was released three years ago, so it should be time to at least make sure that the actors are interested - unless it's a game with a different protagonist or something similar.

Both actors say they would like to reprise their roles, but fear that their commitment to union rights with better protection against AI may be holding them back. Previously, the Zombies actors from Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 were fired, which was also suspected to be due to unionization (and Activision Blizzard, as we know, is owned by Microsoft as well).

Dropping long-time employees from iconic roles has happened before. In 2023, Charles Martinet had to stop doing the voice of Super Mario and his friends after 32 long years. Steve Downes leaving Master Chief after 24 years would therefore be a similar story.

If he is indeed leaving the role, apart from the union involvement, it is conceivable that it is because Halo Studios wants a reboot of the entire series, or that Downes turns 75 this summer and the developers simply think it is time to hand over the reins to someone younger.