Halo Infinite Delayed to 2021

This seems like a pretty rotten blow to the Xbox Series X launch lineup. I really like playing games on Xbox, but I don't even know what is coming out at launch now.

That said, I hope this really helps the development of this game and eases the burden on 343 during this weird ass time. If it ends up making a better game, that's great. More importantly, if it leads to a more sustainable development cycle for the behemoth franchise games, any amount of time is worth it. It's kind of impossible to imagine that the pandemic isn't going to directly affect the launch of any game coming later this year, and likely next year. A lot of people have had to pivot into situations that are not ideal for making games in, so anything getting made right now is pretty damn impressive.

Via Polygon.

I'm always glad when developers get more time to work on games. But it does make the Xbox Series launch a bit weird and hollow.

If PS5 had a blockbuster launch lineup I'd say this is a serious problem, but it really doesn't. Most everything that matters is "2021".

And even that is assuming Microsoft is still playing the hardware sales game, which they don't really appear to be.

Ruh roh! I wasn't quite expecting this but maybe that premiere trailer got them enough feedback to make it clear that this needed more time in the oven.

This is like the shortest time between announcing a release window and then announcing a delay I think I've ever seen.

...but anyway, this is probably partially because of the negative feedback towards the game's look and partially because of the current virus ruining everyone's day.

Snap judgment is 50% "Yikes," 50% "Thank goodness."

I genuinely can't imagine the stress of building the next Halo. And it seems pretty apparent from last month's footage that the game just isn't ready. Who knows what additional stressors the team is facing in pandemic-era development, but it's probably magnitudes more complicated than before.

Hopefully this means the team doesn't have to suffer through crunch to patch sinkholes. Hopefully the team gets to polish the game they actually want to make.

It’s better to delay if a game is not ready or if it means destroying the well being of the team. That said, what is that launch going to look like? Do they have anything? I must be forgetting something, but they don’t have Halo, Forza, Fable, Senua’s Saga. What do they have at launch?

@clagnaught: I think people usually put way too much emphasis on the importance of a good launch lineup. What games did the PS2 or Xbox 360 launch with? I mean SSX, TimeSplitters, PGR3 and Kameo were good games, but they didn't really define their consoles and I don't think anyone bought those consoles because of those games.

well shit.

that's pretty wild.

Ironically, the AV Club just put up a listicle about this very issue concerning the PS2 this morning! They did have some pretty rad games at launch - TimeSplitters, SSX, I liked Smuggler's Run a lot and if you loved esoterica From Soft had your back three times over - but one could argue the proof of how different those experiences were from the previous generation wasn't really born out until TimeSplitters 2, SSX Tricky and GTA III a couple years later.

...And honestly, that's maybe one of the best launch lineups of the 3D era, even if the point of the AV Club article was to make fun of it (FantaVision for $50, am I right?!). I suppose the original XBox or maybe the Dreamcast has an argument, but I doubt we ever see a launch lineup like the SNES or NES (or even a singularly medium changing single game like Mario 64) ever again.

Kinda saw that coming, does kinda make me hope they port 5 to PC then once they finish up the MCC ports before Infinite eventually releases, always seemed like a weird prospect to have every Halo game on PC except for the preceding game to the big upcoming one.

That's good, but it makes me wonder if they had even been planning on delaying it, or if the feedback and critique toward the gameplay footage are what pushed them to do it. I figure it's the latter, but I hope it was the former as it would show that they knew it needed more time rather than an 'uh oh' moment. Whatever the case may be, hopefully, this just means it'll turn out to be great.

@isomeri said:

You're forgetting that killer app: System Software 1.01.

@nodima I was irrationally upset that AV Club would call both Dynasty Warriors 2 and Kessen "losers". Bunch of philistines, I tell you. Philistines!

All other issues aside, I cannot imagine having 5-6 years to work on this, then being positioned as a launch title for the next Xbox, and then at some point (apparently very recently) having to tell someone at Microsoft that it will not be ready until next year. Not faulting anyone or saying I could have done a better job, just thinking about how much that conversation must have sucked.

I really feel for the devs who are going to be the ones to actually shoulder the weight of this delay. Besides that, wow is it a weird fucking year to launch a console. The last few console gens had clear "winners" but I'm kinda wondering if either of these are going to sell all that well in their first year or two. Compared to last gen that is.

@rorie: I don't know how, but this is probably all your fault Rorie.

Yikes. These two console launches are nothing more than what the PS4 Pro and One X were. "Games you beat two years ago will have fewer frame rate drops in busy scenes."

Series X and PS5 are both increasingly unnecessary purchases at launch.

I'm sure those developers are under a lot of pressure to revitalize Halo, and hopefully this delay doesn't mean six more months of crunch for them.

The only thread I'm hanging onto is the fact that even if I can afford a 3080ti, my Apex skins and stats won't transfer over from Xbox. But fortnite added account linking, and theres still plenty of time for EA to do so too.

Kinda regretting not buying that cyberpunk xbox one x now though

Kinda see it coming after hearing about the diffculties they encountered during development. Guess the 20th anniversary of Halo Combat Evolved next year is going to be their marketing focus.

While definitely a blow to the launch-line-up I’m not going to lose any sleep over not being able to play the 6th...7th? Halo game where you shoot grunts and drive a Warthog. If they showed a radically different game in that trailer that would be something but it’s hard to get excited for just more Halo unless you’re a super fan of the franchise.

[Ron Howard voice]: It does.

Jesus Christ, time flies. How is this even possible.

@clagnaught: I mean, what the hell is Sony's lineup? Just Spiderman 1.5 and some multi plat games? Neither console is dropping with anything (Halo was kind of the exception). More reason to wait till 2021 to buy one of the new consoles.

@lilnatureboyx: Look on the bright side: more time to play cyberpunk now.

@therealturk: Calling any Dynasty Warriors a "loser" is paramount to a war crime. As Reggie would say, "Fuck 'em."

@panfoot: I'd bet money 5 comes to the collection. Hell, we never thought Reach would get added and here we are.

I'm sure they've got the shreds of Scalebound, Phantom Dust, and Fable Legends laying around in a garbage can somewhere. Just dig 'em out, and mash 'em together. I'm sure you can get something ready with 'em by launch.

I can certainly understand that during COVID-19, making video games is probably super difficult, and it’s definitely not worth the risk to people’s health.

But man, this is a big blow to the Xbox Series X launch. I don’t think there’s any first party content at launch, is there? I can’t think of anything else... or if any console has every launched without a first party game.

Well that's unfortunate. Not that I was planning on buying Series X, but still. It is kinda bonkers, that they currently don't have any big first-party games ready for launch then...unless they've kept something under wraps and announce it together with the console's launch date and price, but that's probably not too likely.

Sony's not really in a much better position, unless they also have something still unannounced. Though a new Spider-Man (even if an expansion) is still something at least...and of course if Bloodborne will run at 60FPS on PS5, then they obviously don't need anything else!

@inevpatoria: No joke. That Halo studio just signed on for, AT LEAST, another 4-5 months of crunch.

One the one hand, they've got a job, but on the other hand... Microsoft "moved the finish line" in their home stretch; when everyone just wants to be done with the damned game (after 5 years of development).

Now the poor bastards got another 4 - 16 months of ballbusting work to get this game done. Ouch!

I've so conflicted about all this. Delaying the game is the right move for the game, but it's absolutely going to be bad for employees at 343.

Similarly, I think it's pretty clear that time and time again Microsoft and 343 have mismanaged the Halo brand to the point that the entire franchise just needs a fresh team behind it. This feels like one of those terminal points where something has to change.

I checked out of the main series after Reach, but from what I understand, Halo 4 and 5 aren't thought of very highly, and the Master Chief Collection is an infamous mess that still, all these years later, has a massive laundry list of problems. But a big developer like 343 doing poorly isn't good, and clearly the Halo brand is keeping a lot of people gainfully employed even if the end products haven't been great.

Look at Guerilla games, stuck with Killzone for ages, a series with a somewhat mixed reputation, then they went at made their most popular game by far, Horizon, when they weren't stuck with an old franchise. 343 would probably benefit from the same opportunity.

As for the console launch, this'll hurt it, but not kill it. Playstation's definitely got a better lineup now, but the competition isn't that thrilling overall. Still, I can't imagine anyone rushing out to get an xbox this fall, whereas Spiderman will at least sell a few PS5s.

If it's because of the reception it got i do understand that, for a next generation title it needs to be more "impressive", whatever that entails, but i'm not a graphics snob and thought it looked just fine.

@inevpatoria:

I mean thats good. Fuck crunch.

@brackstone: @inevpatoria:

I mean thats good. Fuck crunch.

Also ps5 is a bit better but not by much. And series x will have more value with gamespass and better BC library. Also right now Sonys services are hot trash. But theres still time to fix that

@haz_kaj: I'm pretty sure 343i is crunching atm and the delay will just mean more crunch, plenty of Glassdoor reviews from 343i descibe a very difficult/hostile work environment which has been echoed by Schreier.

I’m happy about the delay. The gameplay looked really fun, like Halo 1. However, the graphics looked very much like it was developed for the Xbox One. The game will be promising if they can scale the graphics up to next gen level.