A new Halo Infinite release window has been announced. According to 343 Industries, the game is now set to launch in Fall 2021. Until then, the team says it will be hard at work finishing and polishing the experience.
What do we know about the Halo Infinite release date?
This news comes to us via Halo Waypoint, the official website for the Halo franchise. In the December 2020 edition of "Inside Infinite", a series that looks at the development of Halo Infinite, 343 Industries creative director Joseph Staten confirms that the game is coming in Fall 2021. Staten says that until that time, the development team will be "building, testing, and polishing" the game. It was originally due to launch this year, but was delayed until 2021.
According to Staten, he joined 343 "right as the team was wrestling with feedback from the July campaign demo". This is in reference to criticisms over Halo Infinite's graphics, which were perceived by some to be of low quality despite the game ostensibly being shown on an Xbox Series X. Staten said that the feedback for the July demo, and the discussion 343 Industries had around that feedback, "boiled down to one fundamental truth: [they] needed more time to do things right". This involved pushing hard in Fall, giving the team some time to recharge over the Holidays, then returning in January to finish the game "at a healthy pace".
What else is in this Halo Infinite deep dive?
December's edition of Inside Infinite has a lot more tidbits of information if you're a Halo fanatic. Community director Brian Jarrard talks about the game's art and graphics, along with art staffers Nicolas Bouvier, Neill Harrison, and Ani Shastry. According to Shastry, the team's focus was on "high resolution and performance" for the July demo, meaning the visuals "didn't quite get the level of polish" that they needed. Bouvier, meanwhile, says that the team wanted to embed Halo Infinite "within very stable foundations" that would be familiar for Halo fans. To this end, the team settled on a mixture of modern visuals and the classic Halo aesthetic that would "definitely speak to all".
There's also some information in the presentation about Halo Infinite's multiplayer and live elements. As part of this discussion, live team design director Ryan Paradis says Infinite will have four major pillars: healthy engagement, a player-first focus, unambiguous value, and constant listening, learning, and experimenting from the team. These values include a commitment to not including lootboxes or any way for players to buy their way to victory. There's plenty more information in the full presentation, so if you're a huge Halo fan, I strongly recommend giving it a read.
Halo Infinite will launch in Fall 2021 for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC.
Are you looking forward to Halo Infinite? Let us know in the comments below!
