Delaying Halo Infinite was a major decision by Microsoft, and it was one that many didn’t expect them to make. That’s not just because it’s perhaps one of their biggest releases in years, but also because it was being billed as the flagship launch title for the Xbox Series X. However, given the rough state the game looked to be in in its gameplay reveal, most agreed that the delay was a good idea, and would lead to a better game.
Now, new information is probably emerging that suggests that Microsoft and developers 343 Industries are prepared to make even more sacrifices to ensure that Halo Infinite is the best game that it can be. Over on ResetEra, insider sponger – who has been verified by the forum’s moderators as being a legitimate source of such news and has previously leaked accurate information – is suggesting that Microsoft could be considering making big changes to Halo Infinite’s launch plans. This isn’t information that is coming from official channels, so take it with a grain of salt for now.
The biggest of the aforementioned changes is that the first person shooter – which is currently being developed as a cross-gen release – could drop its planned Xbox One version and become an Xbox Series X exclusive. Sponger states that on the base Xbox One, Halo Infinite is struggling quite a bit- apparently, it’s failing to hit a 1080p resolution – and in fact is even lower than 900p – and facing major issues with asset loading- even worse than those that were apparent in the game’s recent gameplay demo, which was running on a PC.
343 Industries have a plan for the fixes that they need to put into place. “Idea is to change at the engine level how assets load, make RT as default (improve/”unlock” some assets), improve geometry, post-processing and add more CPU bound interactivity,” the insider says.
In fact, in another post, sponger states that even delaying Halo Infinite once more and releasing it in early 2022 is not off the table. Apparently, 343 Industries and Microsoft are convinced that it needs to be the “best Halo game ever”- and based on this, they seem to be willing to make any sacrifices necessary.
Until not too long ago, Microsoft had stated on more than one occasion that there would no first party Xbox Series X exclusives for a couple of years until after the console’s launch, and that all of their games would be coming to Xbox One for the foreseeable future as well. However, at the Xbox Games Showcase in late July, multiple first party releases – including the likes of Fable, Avowed, State of Decay 3, Forza Motorsport, and Everwild – were confirmed as Xbox Series X exclusives, and Microsoft’s subsequent statements presented a pretty different picture from their earlier ones.
Halo Infinite is, for now, the only major upcoming first party game by Microsoft that is confirmed to be coming to Xbox One as well, so if it were to drop its current-gen version, it would be a pretty notable change. Many might argue, however, that it would probably be for the better, especially for the game itself. Once again though, don’t put too much stock into this until we hear something more concrete.
Meanwhile, Halo Infinite has been at the center of a controversy of its own since the announcement of its delay. A recent report claimed that the game had been going through a rough development period for a number of years for a variety of reasons, though developers 343 Industries have categorically denied several of the claims in the report.
