Halo Infinite: Why It Was Delayed to 2021 | Screen Rant
Microsoft has given Halo Infinite a hefty delay into Fall 2021, but there's a good reason the company has chosen to put off its biggest game.
Halo is undoubtedly the biggest series Microsoft has under its belt, and Master Chief has become one and the same with the Xbox brand. Since the reveal of Xbox Series X, Microsoft has touted Halo Infinite as the console's biggest game.
Unfortunately, Infinite's initial reveal didn't exactly blow fans away, and it led to a lot of backlash on graphics, among other things. Halo Infinite was absent from the console launch, and after a bit of silence, Microsoft has announced a lengthy delay for the game into Fall 2021.
Fans will be disappointed by the delay, but it's clearly something that Microsoft sees a good reason for. Here's a bit of context on why Halo Infinite was delayed to 2021.
The biggest complaint fans had on Halo Infinite's gameplay in July was the graphics, with many saying it simply didn't look like a next-gen title. Microsoft clearly took criticisms to heart, as it seems like the game's graphical state is the main reason for the delay. In the announcement post Neill Harrison, Infinite's director of art management, comments on the delay, saying "The primary goal for the Campaign demo in July was showing Halo Infinite gameplay for the first time. While that aspect generally landed as we wanted, the reality is that the art and visuals weren’t at the bar we hold for Halo – even in a work-in-progress state.
Much of the feedback we heard from the community aligned with our own views and work we were already committed to doing around things like indirect lighting, material response, foliage and tree rendering, clouds, level-of-detail transitions, and character fidelity. Still, the feedback was humbling, and it also pushed us to look at additional opportunities for improvement."
The article goes in-depth on the work 343 Industries has done since July, and even some of the things missing from the build that fans saw. Interestingly, the facial animations for NPCs hadn't been fully implemented in the demo shown which is, in part, what led to Craig the Brute, who became a meme. The art and graphics teams still have a bit of work to do polishing up aspects of Halo Infinite, but at the very least the entire campaign is complete from start to finish, if not polished. There are, of course, other aspects of the game that still need work, especially considering this will be the first Halo that's a fully "live-service" title. Halo Infinite simply wasn't up to the standards Microsoft and 343 hold for the series, and although fans have to wait a bit longer, it's good to see the company dedicated to making Halo Infinite the best experience it can be.
Halo Infinite launches Fall 2021 for Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC.