Halo Infinite Didn't Deserve To Be A Failure

In the words of those who worked on it, Microsoft and 343 Industries set it up to fail. A lack of resources, a fractured production cycle, unclear post-launch plans, and constant fumbling of a project that should have been a slam dunk. This is Halo. Do it right and the game will sell itself, and it almost did. The gunplay was amazing, the multiplayer was satisfying, and the solo campaign was emotionally resonant in all the right ways. Yet here we are less than two years later, staring at the decaying corpse of a blockbuster that could have had the world.

[SullysCigar]

A lack of resources??

That's certainly not what the public were told. We were told they had $500mn+ and 5 years, with a HUGE amount of people on it. Then it was delayed for a year, presumably bumping that cost far higher, and it still came out half-baked and badly supported for ages thereafter.

What gives? Were we lied to, or is this excuses time?

[Flawlessmic]

Funny, I read that line had the exact same reaction.

Whatever happens next for halo needs to hit and hit hard before it fades into irrelevance.

[babadivad]

The most frustrating parts of Infinite is all the things it does right. The gameplay if phenomenal. The campaign gives you a boots on the ground, turing the tides of an all but lost war around. It was an emotional redemption for Cortana after the ruined her character in Halo 5(she should have stayed dead in Halo 4).

It's all the other things that have made this game a disaster. Delays, cut features, etc. People were ready to love Halo.

It had massive numbers at launch but after missed deadline after missed deadline the audience dwindled.

Halo's SciFi universe is as deep as any other major SciFi universe either in books on film. It's a shame it's been handled by incompetents.

[oIMyersIo]

Gunplay is tight, as usual for a Halo game but that’s about where it ends with this one, unfortunately.

Where is all of the post launch content?
Cut co-op that was promised?
We’ve had…two seasons of online content in *checks calendar* 1 year and 2 months. Not good enough.

[crazyCoconuts]

Agreed on the gunplay experience, it felt like halo and that's a fun feeling even if you just copy the mechanics from a previous halo.
The story though...I played the latest Far Cry after Halo Infinite, and for me that story FAR surpassed Halo's shallow story, no contest

[StarkR3ality]

It had good fundamentals. The gameplay is as good as it's ever been. However what they've done is built a solid foundation and then not built a house on it. The amount of maps and game modes at launch was pitiful. They could have just added redesigned classic maps and game modes and fans would be happy.

Poor management, that's all there is to it. From 343 and Xbox.

[PapaBop]

Yeah the maps killed it for me as a former Halo junkie. So few and the ones we got weren't even that great.

[Concertoine]

They nailed the sandbox but the maps are symmetrical esports crap like every other game. What happened to fun maps in games??

[Rude-ro]

The gameplay was dated and clunky.
I get that it was suppose to go back to its roots…
But no game looking this retro would be considered a AAA powerhouse.

[RaiderNation]

Yeah it did.

[SullysCigar]

Pretty much. If a game is bad or incomplete, it deserves to fail.

This game had a golden opportunity, one that other developers would kill for. Dream budget, a once cherished franchise, ample time, new hardware - and a further year+ to 'polish'.

Craiggate didn't help and that was on Phil. You don't get to tell us what looks great or what we should be excited for; we tell you that, as you found to your detriment.

[King_Noctis]

This game got 87% on Metacritic. The game’s multiplayer mode was incomplete yes, but how is it bad as a whole? Or did Phil bribed those reviewers?

[SullysCigar]

^ I have a question too. Do you know anybody at this stage that considers Halo Infinite be an 87/100 game?

[Rude-ro]

@king
It is not bribing when they own or are partnered with most media outlets.
It is actually considered marketing.

[AgitUzumaki]

People here blame Microsoft/Xbox and Phil Spencer for Halo Infiniti by people that probably never even played a Halo game before. 343i had all the time to make a perfect Halo. Longest development time for a Halo game, Microsoft deep pocket. If I invest money in a company for a product then I damn sure expect it to be good. And 343i clearly didn’t live up to that.
While Halo Infinite wasn’t a bad game(campaign) but it should be a lot more for the time they had the game in development. It felt like it was half finished, story wise. Like different visions of creators that didn’t match up.
This is 343i fault and the person to blame is Bonnie Ross.
She should step down because of the bad management and and the shit Halo Tv series that she approved to be made.

[BlaqMagiq1]

You do know Bonnie Ross left 343 months ago right? There was bad management AFTER she left too.

[lodossrage]

@BlaqMagiq1

Yeah there was bad management BEFORE she left too. Think about this for a moment. Remember when Microsoft first showed that game on stage to the public? It looked like garbage, yet they still were willing to show it? A call like that was above Bonnie's head. And even worse, they were STILL willing to put the game out that year. Had it not been for the memes and constant ridicule, they wouldn't have delayed it another year before release. They were perfectly willing to release it no matter the state it was in JUST because it was Halo.

I'm sorry, but people higher up than Bonnie Ross did that. Why everyone seems to act like everything is her fault is beyond me.

[thecodingart]

Yeah, it did…

[EvertonFC]

One day people will wake up and realise halo hasn't really been a thing for about 10 years, the hardcore halo fan is 40s or maybe late 30s.
Gamers have long since moved onto Fortnite and other GaaS/f2p games destiny, overwatch etc.
Halo infinite bombed cause the market for halo is no longer there, the quicker MS realise that the quicker they can move onto a new ip

[Asplundh]

It was a step in the right direction, only because they finally started listening to the fans and decided to look back at what made Halo great and started making a halo game instead of trying to copy features from other popular shooters like supply drops from COD or The Mantis that was probably added because of Titanfall.

[Godmars290]

The last thing you'd expect to hear in regards to a first party studio of a console maker.

To the level that "maybe" said console maker shouldn't be in the industry.

[aaronaton]

When you spend quite alot of your budget on outsourcing instead of hiring talented staff to work in house... you get what you deserve.
Starfield is the next to fail, we've already seen the choppy sub 30frame rates in the trailers, coupled with below standard art and animation.

[Chocoburger]

Choppy framerates and below standard art and animation are Bethesda trademarks.

[badz149]

LOL just Halo? they have been many others.

BUT for the budget it got and the time that was given to them to develop AND to fulfill its promises post-launch, and the willingness of the fans to accept its shortcomings at launch etc...the way they have treated the fans with the game shows that the game does deserve to fail IMO. it's almost criminal that they decided to go the GAAS route yet don't even know what they have to do to make it work and all the broken promises...if it's not Halo, the game would have been buried deep not long after launch!

[Vengeance1138]

What's with the headline? Does any game ever made truly deserve to be a failure?

[Chocoburger]

I beat Superman 64, it was pure torture the entire time. Yes, it truly deserves to be a failure.

A big F U to everyone involved with that piece of flaming donkey crap.

[giovonni]

The only issue I had with Halo was the after launch issues. The single campaign was good. The story, the enemies, the environment were good. The open world concept was integrated well. I do think however, there were spots that were bland and lifeless, but it’s typical for a lot of these open world games.

[Thundercat77]

Xbox management... That's what happened.

[Aloymetal]

Half a billion in the making...

[Abear21]

Halo needs a complete reboot, even COD plays differently year to year, this game has played basically the exact same through its 9 games. Reinventing Halo needs to be a thing. It’s Ass creed repetitive right now the multiplayer, guns, floating jumps, it plays just as it did 20 years ago, that’s not a good thing.

[RGB]

Yes, it did;
Over 6 years in development.
1,000 devs from 4 major studios were involved by the end.
$500 million budget on development and promotion.

What did people get?
A 6-hour campaign
MP with less content than Halo 2
No coop (legitimate anyway) and Forge a year late.

It deserved it!

[Unknown_Gamer5794]

This may be a hot take, but if I’m to feel bad for a game not doing as well as it should, I usually lean towards games that aren’t part of big franchises with big companies behind them, especially since what constitutes a “failure” by AAA standards can be a lot different than with games by smaller studios.

[Games1st]

Give to anyone else

[contra157]

Fail