In July of this year, Microsoft debuted the first footage of Halo Infinite during its Xbox Games Showcase event. The gameplay was almost instantly hit with harsh criticisms regarding its underwhelming visuals, especially for an Xbox Series X launch title. Following this, Microsoft made the hard decision to delay the game into 2021, revoking its status as the Xbox Series X's major launch title. Now, developer 343 Industries has revealed that Halo Infinite is intended to launch in "fall 2021."
Halo Infinite was first announced during Microsoft's E3 2018 press conference as a "spiritual reboot" of the franchise following the mixed reception to Halo 4 and Halo 5: Guardians. The game borrows many of the visual motifs from the series' very first entry, Halo: Combat Evolved, and is intended to bring the series back to its roots, returning to many of the elements that fans loved about the original entries developed by Bungie. The first look at the game's opening cutscene appeared during Microsoft's E3 2019 presentation, where it was revealed that the game would be a Series X/S launch title, until the game appeared again earlier this year only to be delayed again shortly after its gameplay reveal.
Announcing the game's current release window, 343 Industries' Joseph Staten — the former writer/cinematic director for Bungie on titles such as Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, and Halo 3 — detailed the decision making leading up to Halo Infinite's delay in the studio's latest community update. "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 to keep the verbs consistent."
Staten goes on to detail how the game's visuals have improved since the July demo, providing the very first glimpse at one of the game's multiplayer maps. Halo Infinite's multiplayer will be free-to-play upon the game's launch, lending insight into how 343 Industries is using the game as an ongoing platform to develop upon for up to a decade. These new screenshots present the game in a much more attractive light, presenting a high level of detail and very impressive shadowing. The community update also features an interview with the game's art director, Nicolas "Sparth" Bouvier, in which they discuss how Halo Infinite is harkening back to the original art style of Bungie's trilogy.
Up until now, there have been many unsubstantiated rumors claiming that Halo Infinite could release in Spring 2021, which is why it's key that 343 Industries has made this distinction going into the new year. Unfortunately, this means Halo fans will likely have to wait a full year from the game's initial November 10, 2020, release date to play the game on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. This does make Xbox's 2021 slightly more eventful, however, as Microsoft has yet to detail any more of its release schedule for the year outside of Halo Infinite and the Xbox Game Studios published title Psychonauts 2, which is slated to make its way to other consoles as well as Xbox Series X.
Halo Infinite will release for PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S in Fall 2021.
Source: Halo Waypoint