A recent episode of XboxEra's podcast aired some interesting insider information about "Project Tatanka"—games industry spies believe that developer, Certain Affinity, initiated development of a Halo Battle Royale project at some point in 2020. The studio is best known for its ancillary work on many Call of Duty and Halo sequels—the most recent entry on their CV is Halo Infinite, a co-production with Microsoft's 343 Industries. The rumor mill proposes that work on "Project Tatanka" has ended prematurely, although early 2023 insights allege that Certain Affinity was instructed to take the shooter in a different direction. Many news sites have cited XboxEra Podcast episode no. 194 and its hosts as the origin of fresh cancellation claims. Jon "Sikamikanico" Clarke, co-founder and Editor in Chief of XboxEra, was not amused by these allegations.

Clarke's response stated: "What's hilarious to me, and certainly a big surprise to Nick (Shpeshal_Nick), is that this was a simple conversation, on the show, where we talking about someone else's (YouTuber ColtEastwood) discussion on a podcast...What's even more amusing is I even make a joke about overreactions to a rumored game..."we don't know—it's just the scuttlebutt out there. What's really depressing in all of this is that we're discussing someone else's discussion, and all the headlines at the other end are effectively 'Nick Baker reports Tatanka cancelled.' This is factually wrong. If we had corroborated, verifiable evidence and detail on this, I think it's pretty likely we'd do a report ourselves. We don't, so we haven't. There's a reason it's just a discussion on the podcast."Kotaku weighed in on the matter: "there has not been an official announcement regarding what Certain Affinity is working on, and no confirmation that Tatanka is a Halo battle royale. Xbox Era's Clarke told Kotaku via email that the publication was "stunned it's a story at all really. Kotaku reached out to Certain Affinity for a comment; they declined to supply one." Writer Alyssa Mercante concludes her piece with the observation/opinion: "Can you cancel a game that was never announced? But I'm wondering: Does anyone want a Halo battle royale?"

Editor's Note: Skip to the 2 hour & 24 minute mark for "Project Tatanka" discussion XboxEra Podcast #194: