Halo Infinite – No Plans for Another Delay or Dropping Xbox One Version, Says 343 Industries

Community manager John Junyszek denies recent rumours about Halo Infinite.

[Destiny1080]

it will be out next year, whether it's ready or not

[darthv72]

It should be ready by March.

[Fluttershy77]

Hey "people put too much emphasis on this one game" but here you are again.

[Julion0715]

March would be nice fingers crossed

[CaptainHenry916]

Sure it will

[XBManiac]

Yea'r? Sure?

[CaptainObvious878]

If ms were only going to delay it 4 months they would have released it in it's poor state with the xsx and dealt with the back lash.

It's going to be a lot longer than March.

[Brazz]

Imho, no way it will be delivered in march 2021. Many leaks pointed at some big problems whit halo infinite, the presentation looked very bad. 1 year delay is very likely.

[DJStotty]

@Brazz

1 year delay to polish textures? Don't make yourself sound simple.

The only issue was the quality of the intro, and some pop-in. If they were targeting a november launch all it needs is polish, a few months at the most.

[Fluttershy77]

It's going to be ready. Maybe you won't like it. People think the game got cancelled because of the poor graphics, the basic art style, and uninspired game-play the trailer showed; but in my opinion what we found just a few days later about 343 toying with the idea of releasing the game in parts -episodes, or whatever... shows the game wasn't ready, complete: wasn't a full game yet. So they need time to do that. The graphics, gameplay etc. are gonna be - again IMO- the same, (some people like what they saw... not me for sure) but we'll get a full game and not just an episode, with some "not GaaS but similar to it" excuse sprinkled all over it. We'll see.

[darthv72]

March seems like a good time frame for it to be ready.

[Godmars290]

"Sea of Thieves says hi."

[cabbitwithscissors]

Fortnite made it okay to have cartoonish graphics. 343 had noticed the player base liking this type of graphics and gameplay and made the move towards this mode. Get ready for disappointment.

[gerbintosh]

If the game isn't done then they should have just showed pre-rendered footage like everyone else

[Noskypeno]

People praised what they saw last year and 2018, it was the best of the old art style but with near cgi graphics. We shouldnt compare this to low budget battle royale games.

[1Victor]

@darthv they release bit on March and the game won’t be marching out of stores like they want it.
There’s too much problems with it for it to be released by March.
IMO they will release it by last quarter next year end of 3rd as the earliest

[waverider]

lets talk again in a couple of months...

[RememberThe357]

Exactly. They haven't made the plan because they haven't decided what they're actually gonna do. Either way I hope the next time we see the game it's on an other level.

[JayRyu]

You can do it 343!

[Godmars290]

When have they?

I mean, haven't the last two Halo titles been panned? Needed to be fixed over months? How is this not more of the same?

[ThinkThink]

Halo 5 had the best multi-player of the series to go with the crappies single player campaign of the series. If 343i can nail the story this time, they should be good. Not worried about multi-player.

[Godmars290]

@ThinkThink:
The point stands and remains: 343/MS need to deliver a good complete product rather than the at best lukewarm something they/their fanbase will defend with "good enough" excuses.

If only for the sake of the studios, some with in development projects, they bought. Cause if MS follows habit the devs who work for them might be lucky - technically speaking - to be regrouped into new "343s" once their studios are closed and IPs shipped off.

[darthv72]

4 had a good story and okay MP. 5 was the opposite, good MP and okay story.

[AuraAbjure]

Halo 4 is legend and the MCC is now a blast to play with friends. It it worth mentoning both those games had issues upon release. Halo 4 had frame rate problems in split-screen mode and the MCC was broken for 2 years after initial release but they fixed it finally.

[Godmars290]

@rockwhynot:
One more time:

The issue is that MS, studios under them, don't get things right the first time. That they can't get flagship IPs like Halo right at premiere events much less their release windows. That they "eventually" fix what shouldn't have been broken.

The problem is that Xbox supporters have not only come to accept but praise such behavior while getting upset that "Sony Ponies" chide them - for some reason.

[Duke19]

Xbox One support is gonna be the death of these games and it's really depressing. I'd want a true next gen Halo, Fable, etc. None of this current gen+ nonsense

[Z501]

But Halo Infinite was announced as a current gen game. You'll get your next gen Halo, eventually.

[Jin_Sakai]

Agreed. Even Ryan McCaffrey from IGN finally admitted he was wrong about current gen not holding back next gen after talking to enough people.

https://twitter.com/dmc_rya...

I look back at this after seeing Halo Infinite and laugh.

“Phil Spencer: Xbox Series X Being 'Held Back' Is A Meme Created By Console War Obsessives”

https://www.purexbox.com/ne...

[Charal]

One had to be massively candid to believe the no hold back argument.
It is so obvious technically wise that it raise a lot of questions about these game journalists expertise.

[CaptainObvious878]

I'm no software developer, but I like to think I have at least 2 brain cells and so I immediately knew that current consoles would hold back next gen games in many different ways. It's just a very common sense, almost self evident objective fact.

But credit where credit is due. It's good to see Ryan admit he was wrong.

[AmUnRa]

The comments below the purexbox.com article are so predictable. And Phil Spencer is just damagecontroling.......But...i t is what it is.😉

[Silly gameAr]

Glad he finally came to his senses. It does sound good on paper, but in the real world, Phil's plans seem like they would be a pain in the ass for most game devs, and will definitely hold back progress for next gen games.

[dumahim]

I'm left wondering how the Series S isn't going to be holding back the Series X even if it wasn't for the whole cross-gen thing.

[Chevalier]

@Duke

I agree. Its kind of dumb really. They're trying to distance themselves from this awful generation yet they're clinging on. They've really mismanaged this whole generation

[gamer7804]

they'll be a bit more limited and lower res/framerate, but it won't kill them, I mean it hasn't killed Bayonetta2 (and probably not 3), they are just going to be graphically less impressive games, which generally launch early gen games are anyways.

[dumahim]

Bayonetta 2 was built for the Wii U and later ported to the Switch. That's entirely different from trying to build a next-gen game that also is playable on the previous generation.

[NeoGamer232]

I have not seen a single announced game so far except for The Medium and R&C Rift in Time that could not be shipped on current gen consoles. Yes, they would have degraded graphics fidelity and lack ray tracing, but at the core all the next gen games shown to date could ship on this gen of consoles.

[rainslacker]

I'd think after all these years you'd know that if you wait long enough, MS will talk about giving you want you want sometime in the indeterminate and vaguely specified future.

Maybe the next next gen you'll get a soon to be next gen Halo....assuming they haven't moved everything to cloud based streaming which really does away with generations for the most part.

Remember, this is the company that made a big deal about cloud compute being relevant for this gen. How many games have used it? Some drivatars in Forza. Titanfalls "super duper" dumb AI upgrade where it could only be done with the cloud. CD3...which was terrible, but at least worked to some degree as a proof of concept, and now MSFS streaming textures from satellite imagery. Do you really expect anything relevant for next gen from MS? Isn't it coming to light that when they said they want to do away with generations, they meant that they don't want to have to deliver on the expectations of the generation?

[NeoGamer232]

You would think after all this time you would get bored of coming into articles on XB and spreading fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD).

But, I guess you have nothing better to do.

How much is Sony paying you anyhow?

[rainslacker]

Bored? Perhaps. News has been pretty light this year overall. Certainly doesn't seem like a new console is releasing soon considering the rather stark lack of marketing and PR that is usually associated with that kind of thing.

Fear? More like observation based on personal experience, but sure, if my words bring fear to your heart, then that sounds more like a personal problem of some unconscious truth you can't admit to, and I am spreading fear because of it.

MS spreads it's own uncertainty, I don't have to do it for them.

And doubt....tell me what MS has done to make me have any kind of faith in them. I was willing to give Spencer the benefit of the doubt when I decided to buy the X1. He failed to deliver on his promises. That isn't my fault, nor is that FUD to keep expressing my disappointment in his performance, empty promises, and outright lies. It's pretty sad I actually have more respect for Don Mattrick because at least he did what he said he was going to do with consistency, delivered on promises despite people not caring for those promises, and about the only thing he shared with Spencer, was a penchant for lying....oh, and pushing for service models.

And sure, I suppose I could find better things to do, but I do enjoy discussing things video game related. Positive, negative, neutral. Video games are my passion, and have been for as long as I can remember. I typically post on here while I watch TV with the wife, because we're both just half paying attention to the TV anyways.

Sony is paying me in quality games which I have no problem purchasing, and fulfilling my expectations of them....for the most part. The negatives of Sony are far outweighed by their positives.

[Tedakin]

Since their cross gen pledge lasts a year probably, Fable won't be part of it.

[DJStotty]

Buy PS5 then

[Thundercat77]

The moment Microsoft said their plans about cross Gen we knew this would happen.

[RememberThe357]

Man we're not wrong very often. N4G might be a real clusterfk but we know our damn hobby 😂

[rainslacker]

Even if one isn't wrong, then there are those who will co-opt what others were right about as if they were saying it all along. Happened with me for the Cloud, streaming stuff, GaaS stuff, MS going to services stuff, MSVR, of course the cross gen holding things back which I said before MS even talked about it, and many more. If I actually had any motivation to do so, it'd be interesting to go through and see what I said at the start of this gen, how it would play out, and what kind of arguments were against me, then compare them to some people who say that all those things are good now.

There are quite a few people here who are very astute and can see patterns and logically play out potential outcomes. They are wrong sometimes, but since these things take years to come to pass, they're often not given credit where it is due. I guess if they were some sort of random insider, they'd be worth listening to, but often being right for years doesn't mean much nowadays.

[morganfell]

I stated it here until I was blue in the face. What did I get? Downvotes. Not discussion, not any sort of meaningful repartee. A few personal insults (which really mean nothing when someone does not know you personally) and quite a few downvotes.

The fact is they will not learn. Very few supporters of theirs have said, "You know what, I am done with this!" Japanese games (we mean it this time) One X, Cloud Power, Crackdown 3, all of it and they still eat up the next thing that comes out of Phil and Company's mouth. 343 have dropped the ball every time. Some people claim they nailed H5 MP. Sure if you like Call of HALO and the push toward competitive gaming. Look I like Call of Duty a lot. Just not in HALO. There is a reason so many people like MP for the original titles, because that is HALO multiplayer.

Now we have a game being built by the largest studio in Redmond's stable with all the funds they need, employing a custom built engine because they had to drop the previous iteration and back up and start over. And they can't get that bird to fly. Suddenly in a few months they are going to pull a Houdini? No. And anyone that believes they will are part of the problem because they have enabled this ridiculous behavior by continually buying in and even defending publicly, 343's incompetence.

With the quite literal and visible gamer anger over lootboxes Microsoft have also been given a pass with HALO Rec Packs which are simply lootboxes. The excuse? "I don't buy them!" Well someone does and whether or not people purchase them isn't the issue. 343 and Microsoft sell them and they are loot boxes.

https://img.cinemablend.com...

[gamer7804]

I'll defend delaying a game to make it better any day, they've already admitted they've had developmental challenges along with covid. Maybe give them the chance to release the final game and judge for yourself before calling them incompetent. I bet you aren't in the games dev industry or have any family in the gaming industry. It's a tough job that has an extremely critical audience, but at least wait until its out before you call an entire team incompetent.

[morganfell]

They have had multiple games to get it right. First they throw the entire Spartan mythos out the window, then they try to erase the Chief with their own creation. They have been given 5 years, a new facility, enough developers to populate a small town, assisting development teams, and a dream budget and they say, THEY SAY they produced something amazing, something that was polished and it wasn't close. They have had their chance(s). Plenty of development teams do more with less and in less time. You also shouldn't bet on things which you will lose. Had I not done work around the game industry it still would not have been required to see inexcusable faceplanting when it occurs...repeatedly. Blaming covid for the HALO trainwreck is absurd and childish scapegoating in an attempt to excuse their incompetence. This is the very thing about which I remarked and here you are giving me an example in spades. I guess other developers had covid immunity or some miracle cure.

Do you know a common definition of fanaticism? It is redoubling your efforts when your aim has been forgotten. You, people like you are the reason they are still fumbling around in the dark because your defense of them, your inability to demand better, your lack of tough love has not only made their incompetence permissible, you have given it your blessing. In the end you are getting what you deserve.

[morganfell]

"the purchase of all the studios by Microsoft, and the announcement, initial public announcement of Halo infinite, both took place in 2018."

No. Wrong. 343 was founded in 2007 by Ross. They were given complete control of HALO including the server in 2012 though they actually began development of HALO 4 in 2009. It was released on November 6, 2012. At E3 2013, Microsoft and 343 announced the next HALO installment set for release on the Xbox One. Shortly after the the Trilogy was confirmed by Spencer to be expanded into a Saga. The following year at E3 2014, the official title was revealed along with plans for its release in October 2015 which did occur.

At E3 2018, Microsoft Studios and 343 Industries announced the next Halo game, titled Halo Infinite. It is widely known they were working on HALO 6 which became Infinite before HALO 5 launched in 2015. Not sure if you failed grade school math but that is 5 years. Game companies, especially those with hundreds of employees do not sit around collecting a paycheck without working so you are wrong about that pal. 2015 - 2020...5 years.

Not sure why you are bringing up studio acquisitions in 2018. That has nothing to do with HALO Infinite. Microsoft filed the patent for 343 Industries on July 17, 2009. Scope of the game? They said they polished the demo. The size of the scope is immaterial when you say that is your best work. We were also told repeatedly by Phil and his cohorts this would be the industry mother of all bombs, 12TF in action. There is simply no way to excuse that regardless of how hard the fan in you caterwauls. Phil also acknowledged the consideration for episodic release which should tell you how they were scrambling. Also this, “I’ll apologize to the fans, because I never like to set up expectations and then not hit them,” Spencer said. It took fan outcry for Spencer to realize they didn't hit expectations. Why? Because he himself doesn't know. Both Ross and Spencer thought that was good enough.

"Really, it just makes you guys look like the idiots that you are." Irony much? Then again I could say that about half the remarks in your post. Use of the word cuz and other vernacular along with a plethora of gutter grammar isn't exactly setting you up as the head of a brain trust.

"all of this bullshit you guys want to jump up and down and scream about, just seem to be problems on your end." Ever been in a PlayStation article to criticize features or devices? Hypocrite much?

"I've sat right here in these very form threads and watch you guys go at each other over games and services and companies on your own preferred systems...." Hypocrite much?

"you got these other console(s) and games that make you so happy and they're just so wonderful/perfect but are you playing that shit now?!" Hypocrite much? It is called having worked diligently and employed intelligent investments and a smart financial plan for my life so I am quite comfortable and no longer require employment. Ever. It affords me not only any game device or title that I wish but also the luxury of time to do what I will which includes visiting this site and commenting at will. But apparently you feel you are the arbiter of what is a proper amount of time spent remarking on websites...which is of course within limits as long as it is what you wish to hear.

"nobody likes a self-righteous prejudicial asshole, that thinks they're so right on everything that their presence is intolerable." Hypocrite much? Have you read your own angry, cursing adolescent post talking down to others expounding upon your guidelines for personal behavior? Most of your post doesn't address the topic but rather is composed of angry blathering, dictating acceptable social interaction.

[rainslacker]

@L7

My timeline for my comment was from before the start of this gen, to the present. I don't see where I made mention of Halo in what your comment is referencing, but I have made my thoughts known about various topics related to it elsewhere.

Speaking of new engine development, and game delays, and criticisms of games, I can't help but draw parrallels to The Order 1886. A game that was produced in tandem with a new game engine. A game which obviously had troubled development, was obviously released unfinished, had delays, etc. What I don't recall was The Order looking like a slipshod demo of a current gen game. It even had better enemy AI, which isn't saying much, and certainly better animations and lighting.

[L7CHAPEL]

and the majority of titles that will be launching in the next six months +, are going to be cross-gen on both consoles.
lots of third-party publishers are doing the same thing, not just Microsoft.
how many titles have been announced, that will either come with free or paid next-gen upgrades?....

[Iceball2000]

Drop the XBone version and it won’t be out till Holiday 2021.

[Deathdeliverer]

Nobody plans for a delay. Pretty dumb.

[Chevalier]

Plus a delay from what? If you don't give a release date then can it really be delayed? Its just going to come out when they have it done. They can't afford another delay.

[Deathdeliverer]

I mean period though. “Hey contractors, when do you plan on getting my roof done?”

“By the 31st of August.... we are expecting a couple delays though so 🤷🏿‍♂️“

[Chevalier]

I remember the Delaystation comments and its crazy that this whole generation Xbox has done very little, but, the amount of good will Xbox has gotten has not been earned. Its literally wait till the cloud, E3, next gen, next studio. The blind faith is incredible since they haven't followed through on anything. People keep saying oh they're new studios and just keep up excuses. How do they explain the Switch in under 3 years having so much more exclusives than Xbox? Is almost 8 years a short time? Lol.

So what Xbox starts to get their act together and you get some games and what? Its not like Sony or Nintendo don't also have stuff coming. It just shows how badly Xbox studios have been managed.

[rainslacker]

Many well managed productions actually factor delay into their production. It's exceedingly rare to not have a single delay during production. This doesn't mean that projects still don't often get delayed beyond that. Typically, the bigger the scope of the game, the more complex they are, and the more chance for things to go wrong. More often than not, the consumer never knows about these things, because that delay was accounted for.

[Chevalier]

@darkwingsoul

I meant from now after this delay. There's no new date they can delay from. Its just coming 2021 sometime.

[Deathdeliverer]

Exactly. Chev. From THIS delay. Hey I know we just delayed the game but yes we are expecting another delay. They didn’t expect the first delay, how the hell would they expect another? Like I said, it was a dumb question.

[DarXyde]

No plans... because they've already committed to it? Eh, who knows?

Delaying as many times as you need to in order to get it right is not a bad thing. I think Xbox fans should be very happy about that. They're finally coming to understand that delays can be extraordinarily helpful.

2020, 2021, doesn't matter. I think we're going to hear about another delay, but that's just me. They botched the first impression of their flagship title, so they really need to deliver on this game.

[Fraggle1987]

Get rid of xbox one support. Give the next halo the best shot it can to be great.

[Godmars290]

Key words "No Plans'.

The sad frustrating is, that as an Xbox "Hater", I both want MS to do better as a game maker yet am surprised at how bad they are at it.

[RevXM]

Competition is good.
Some honesty and competence would be nice.
But Im not suprised. microsoft have been consistantly overpromising, totuting their horns, done double backflip summersalts,damage controlled, backtracked, excused and messed things up for years.

I dont think they are even trying, and I dont think they really cares. they are in their own bubble making up things they think sounds good so they can sell subscriptions and gain control. Everything be it games, systems, accessories, PR buzzword of the month etc is just additional set dressing to make their primary bussiness model seem palletable.

We want icecream, they sell icecream, but they are all about the toppings.... they want to sell ALL the toppings!
Selling the icecream isnt even important you can get your icecream somewhere else but they would love if you come by to get their toppings.

[TheHan]

Game is gonna be amazing 😉!

[ghostrider32]

They need to ditch the old hardware, and focus on the new one.

[Julion0715]

It’s jus a game relax ppl. Ps is a great platform no doubt but why is it always the ps so much better hehe a delay on the flagship title who cares jus keep gaming. Let ms and Xbox fans deal with this I dnt get why all the hate towards each system

[Knightofelemia]

It would look stupid if Microsoft pulled one of their franchises from XB1 after they told fans it was dropping on to the XB1.

[Abnor_Mal]

Anti consumer? I mean people are throwing that word around left and right, so I'd think it applies here also.

[Knightofelemia]

I know there is no honest company out there and they all lie through their teeth to get your cash. But if you make a promise to fans of a franchise and then drop that promise it does end up biting you in the ass later. Last thing Microsoft wants to do is create a PR disaster by pissing off their Halo fans by scrapping the XB1 port of Infinite. Last thing any company wants to do is send their customers to other pastures like the competition.

[rainslacker]

MS trying to save face hasn't led to the best decisions by them this gen. They tried to save face with CD3 by not cancelling it when it probably needed to be because of the backlash they got from Scalebound. Instead of ditching the cloud compute, they pushed out a rather mediocre game, which even the biggest selling point failed to impress.

If the game releases next year, it'll probably be on X1. If it gets delayed again, then chances are, they'll cancel the X1 version saying that people have moved onto the XSX.

[Tacoboto]

It was announced as a cross-gen title over two years ago. If the rumors are true and the X1S title has all these performance and other loading problems, this isn't a cross-gen issue but a fundamental one with the skill of the team.

Gears 5 should be the benchmark but if they can't even get AC Odyssey performance, that's on their quality as a team building an engine for an exclusive console set

[Minute Man 721]

The assets that they are using looks decent for current gen, very underwhelming for next gen.

[BQ32]

Oh yay, can't wait to play this game designed to run on a 1.3 tflop machine on my new 12 tflop console.

[Phoenix76]

Finally getting close to that "10x the power" I see /s

[Hitman007]

After the last Barf bag unveiling of Halo Phil Showed and thought it would impress me and the world i think our expectations have been severely lowered.

[JokerBoy422]

Dude... as someone who was looking forward to playing this on my current gen Xbox One X, its painfully obvious that 343 has had to gimp the visuals to astronomical levels just to get this Xbox Series X game running on a launch Xbox One and as such I think Microsoft needs to abandon its plans to keep this title compatible across all consoles. Its just not going to work. I want this on current gen consoles like anyone else, but this game is going to have to look like a Remastered PS2 game in order for it to run in full parity across the Xbox console family.

[outsider1624]

Here's wishing 343i the very best of luck. I still think they should have dropped the xbone version. Take advantage of the series x. But what do i know. Im just a PS player.

[Father__Merrin]

Release the free to play multilayer ASAP

[moriarty1889]

i agree. they should.

[aaronaton]

I'm so happy they're not dropping the XB1 version as i wanna see some more great memes when it launches next Autumn.

[moriarty1889]

yes my friend, Craig will be bigger and more popular than ever lol......

[Garodor]

Oh no ... this will be a massacre when the game comes out eventually and still runs terrible/looks last gen

[Games1st]

We'll see. They didn't plan the first one.

[garos82]

who the hell plans "for another delay"?
they just need to shut up and get back to work. let the game do the talking when you are ready

[Bleucrunch]

ITs silly for M$ to be sharing all of this with the next halo. Yet again, they are going about it all wrong.

[tontontam0]

Uhhhhm you you don't really plan a delay. you plan how long you are going to delay when there is a need to delay.

My boss will fucking kill me if I ever said something like. " 1 week is enough to finish the task but it will take 1 month because I am planning to delay it."

[UnholyLight]

This game nor this studio can afford any other hits in the PR department. It HAS to release this year. Even as a diehard Halo fan who wants to see the game done perfectly, I just want to see them release without any further complications or embarrassment.

[jcole97]

Mistake not to drop xbox one

[Charlieboy333]

Yeah sure....no "plans"......." plans" change all the time..

[Donnie81]

343 is gonna shut all the haters up when this game drops to critical and commercial success. Games gonna be fire!!!!!!

[anast]

But will it play on the Series X?

[Wrex369]

I'm really hoping they can pull through. The rest of you just seem like you want another studio closure. Fucking lames.