Now that Bungie is done with Halo: Reach, the franchise has moved to 343 Industries, an internal Microsoft studio. And according to a rumor being floated by U.K. magazine Games Master (via CVG), their first release will be a remake of Halo: Combat Evolved.
The magazine cites "industry chatter" as their source, and claims the remake will be built using the Halo: Reach engine. Moreover, Games Master reports this remake will be released in 2011, preceding a real Halo sequel (likely Halo 4) in 2012. And when asked about the rumor, U.K. Xbox boss Stephen McGill told the magazine that "I imagine it’s a good idea." Obviously not a confirmation, but not exactly a flat-out denial, either.

Now, a couple of interesting points: On the one hand, this seems to fit with what Microsoft Game Studios corporate vice president Phil Spencer said back in September about wanting to increase the frequency of Halo releases, even potentially making annual releases. On the other hand, though, this also seems to contradict what Phil Spencer said last month, when he expressed skepticism about "HD remakes" of classic Xbox games. "If you can provide real value to the customer, there could be possibilities for that, but I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about it," Spencer said.

Could this supposed Halo remake provide that "real value" Spencer is looking for? As is often the case in life, we’ll have to wait and see.