Rumor Suggests Things Are Getting Worse For Halo Infinite
Earlier this month, it was reported that 343 Industries had made the difficult decision to delay the release of Halo Infinite until next year. Since then, several rumors have cropped up regarding the delay. While some of these rumors have been shot down by 343, a new one seems to point in a bad direction for Xbox fans. Luckily, there are a few reasons why this rumor is likely false.
According to ResetEra forum user sponger, Halo Infinite could be in a lot more trouble than fans even knew. Sponger told other forum users that they had checked with a few different sources before reporting what they had heard. If Sponger's sources are correct, Microsoft could potentially cancel the planned release of Halo Infinite for the Xbox One. It's said this might occur so 343 Industries can focus on completing the Xbox Series X version of the game.
Sponger also reported that the game is actually in pretty bad shape and has not been running at all like it is supposed to. Sponger claimed, "[343's] current version of Halo Infinite on Xbox One S is nowhere near 1080p (even lower than 900p) and is having serious asset loading issues (much worse that you have seen on PC demo)." Even worse, Sponger claims that the game could be delayed until even later than 2021.
"It's pretty messy up there with decisions but they are convinced that they need to make best Halo game ever," Sponger concluded.
That last point makes a lot of sense. Halo Infinite has been under a ton of scrutiny, so there's a feeling that the game has to win back the fan base. In fact, the last few months alone have been a pretty rough road for Halo Infinite. To start, the gameplay demo shown off at the Xbox Games Showcase didn't exactly wow fans. Many people felt underwhelmed by the game's graphics, which looked almost decidedly last-gen. Then there was the reveal that the Halo Infinite demo was running on a PC, not an Xbox, which wasn't exactly the best look for Microsoft's new console and launch game. Finally, there was the news of the delay.
Basically, it's kind of easy for people to buy into any negative rumor involving Halo Infinite at this point. The game has already been the center of a few letdowns in recent memory, so it's not too much of a stretch to believe that things could get worse for Halo Infinite. However, the likelihood of outright canceling the Xbox One release of Halo Infinite is simply very slim.
As industry insider Klobrille recently put it, "Fair to say with a release date delay and visual problems, the arguments aren't on the side of 343 right now, but the amount of nonsense being spread about Halo Infinite is ridiculous. Sometimes problems are much more simple than they appear to be. Give them more time."
Granted, it's going to be difficult for many fans to wait patiently for the release of Halo Infinite. But the whole point of the delay is so that 343 Industries' vision can remain uncompromised. That vision would presumably include all versions of the game for Xbox platforms. Building a game that can take advantage of next-gen hardware while also being playable on current-gen is no mean feat, so the delays aren't much of a surprise. If the game is pushed out even further, this is more likely to be the reason why.
There's also the fact that Xbox has built so much of its marketing for the next console generation around giving gamers a choice of which platform to play on. Sure, Xbox has seemingly broken that promise by revealing multiple timed exclusives for the Xbox Series X, but it's hard to believe that the company would exclude a huge section of its fan base from playing a flagship franchise like Halo.
In fact, this line of thinking is seemingly the exact reason why the Xbox Series X has so few console exclusives. As Xbox head honcho Phil Spencer recently told GamesIndustry.biz, "Gaming is about entertainment and community ... and I find it completely counter to what gaming is about to say that part of that is to lock people away from being able to experience those games."
In other words, even though VGC has pointed out that Sponger has revealed accurate insider info in the past, this rumor is best taken with a grain of salt. In the meantime, VGC has reached out to 343 Industries for comment. Hopefully fans will get their answers regarding the Xbox One version of Halo Infinite soon.