Xbox and 343 Industries had promised to provide an update on the status of Halo Infinite before the end of 2020. Today, they kept true to their word and announced some heartbreaking news to the Halo community; Halo Infinite is now delayed until Fall 2021. This follows the original delay announcement. The title was originally scheduled to be released alongside the Xbox Series X|S consoles.
As 343 Day draws to a close, we’re excited to offer a closer look at Halo Infinite development and share our updated launch window of Fall 2021.
As 343 Day draws to a close, we're excited to offer a closer look at Halo Infinite development and share our updated launch window of Fall 2021.
Read more in the first Inside Infinite: https://t.co/1m5mLSJKVm pic.twitter.com/FyDDs1WNoJ
— Halo (@Halo) December 8, 2020
Considering that Halo Infinite was supposed to be an Xbox Series X|S launch title and with this announcement, this means the game has slipped nearly an entire year.
While there’s quite a bit more to read at the link provided above, this recent development paints a picture that many of us were already speculating on; Halo Infinite was nowhere near ready. At the least, I’m glad that cooler heads prevailed and Halo Infinite did not release alongside the Xbox Series X|S release. Yes, it did take away the one exclusive for Xbox’s next-gen consoles, but can you imagine had it been released?
The push to Fall 2021 tells us that there’s still quite a bit of work to do to get the game out the door. More development, and likely quite a bit of retooling / going back and changing up what was already in place. The art direction looks to be a huge reason for the delay, as 343i has owned up to and stated that they weren’t happy with the visuals.
“The primary goal for the Campaign demo in July was showing Halo Infinite gameplay for the first time. While that aspect generally landed as we wanted, the reality is that the art and visuals weren’t at the bar we hold for Halo – even in a work-in-progress state,” states 343i’s director of art management.” “Much of the feedback we heard from the community aligned with our own views and work we were already committed to doing around things like indirect lighting, material response, foliage and tree rendering, clouds, level-of-detail transitions, and character fidelity,” according to 343i’s director of art management, Neil Harrison.
It’s not just the game that’s seen some changes as there were some staff changes within 343 as well. Halo veteran Joesph Staten was brought in to help with development, while the original director, Chris Lee, had stepped down. This transpired shortly after Halo Infinite was shown to the public for the first time and was promptly ridiculed.
Ironically, it is Joesph who states the following. “I joined 343i right as the team was wrestling with feedback from the July campaign demo. This discussion boiled down to one fundamental truth: we needed more time to do things right. That included pushing hard in the Fall, giving the team time to recharge over the Holidays, and then coming back in January to finish the game at a healthy place.” This all of course sounds like a plan, but I can’t help but wonder what else is going on with Halo Infinite.
I’m all for delaying a game to make it the best it can be, but I’m also conflicted that if this is what it takes to get Halo Infinite into fighting shape. I wish 343 nothing but success with the development of Halo Infinite; here’s to hoping another year will give way to a bigger, better Master Chief open-world experience. So while disappointing, I hope 343i takes all the time they need so we can all get back into the fight.
Along with the new release date announcement, several images showcasing Halo Infinite’s multiplayer and two weapons were also shown. Which is a bit of a tease, since it’s all so far away now.
Halo Infinite will be released on Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and Windows PC.
