Microsoft opened its E3 press conference this year by revealing the next game in the Halo series. Details were slim in the new trailer for Halo: Infinite, but it was later confirmed that the game will be focused on Master Chief's story. More details were confirmed today by Chris Lee, Studio Head at 343 Industries, via Twitter. Lee says that the forthcoming game will be a continuation of the last installment in the series, Halo 5: Guardians.
Halo: Infinite picks up where Halo 5 left off, with a revived Cortana and The Created—a group of AI who believe themselves to be superior to organic life—seizing control of the galaxy using Guardians, the massive constructs created by the Forerunners. The Created were determined to bring order by force and had the tools to do it. The last thing seen in the game was the UNSC Infinity’s crew fleeing Cortana’s forces and the Master Chief regrouping with allied forces with the intention of fighting back against the new regime.
There isn't much else to take away from the new trailer other than establishing dramatic landscape shots and a glimpse of Master Chief's helmet. And despite the formal announcement, there’s no release date attached to the upcoming game. In the past, games in the series have tended to have a three-year gap between the main titles. The only exception to this was the two-year gap between Halo Reach, which was developed by Bungie, and Halo 4, which was developed by 343 Industries.
Infinite is being developed using a new engine known as the Slipspace Engine, so fans can probably expect the game to run at 4K 60FPS on the Xbox One X given the series' status as a first party title.
Halo has long been one of Xbox's most successful IPs. However after Halo 5 received not-so-great reviews, fans were understandably concerned about the future of the series. After Lee's announcement on Twitter, many fans can rest easy knowing that Halo: Infinite will continue Master Chief's story after it was nearly discarded in Halo 5.
Halo: Infinite is currently in development for Xbox One.
