Halo Infinite will now be released in late 2021. 343 Industries confirmed that the much-awaited title would go as far as Fall 2021.
Halo Infinite will now come as far back as the later months of 2021. The information is confirmed with a blog post from Joseph Staten, the Bungie vet who is handling the game’s development.
The likely date will be around August, which is a far cry from the original 2020 date.
343 Industries confirms delay date
Infinite has been delayed so much now, with an original release date in conjunction with the Xbox Series X and S release.
The game was slated to be a launch title for Microsoft’s next-gen console, but problems plagued the game.
Now, 343 Industries confirmed that it wouldn’t be releasing the game any time soon. In a blog post, Staten confirmed that the 2021 release would be somewhere around Fall.
As 343 Day draws to a close, we're excited to offer a closer look at Halo Infinite development and share our updated launch window of Fall 2021.
Read more in the first Inside Infinite: https://t.co/1m5mLSJKVm pic.twitter.com/FyDDs1WNoJ
— Halo (@Halo) December 8, 2020
“After Reach shipped, I became a Halo fan, cheering-on 343i from the sidelines,” said the blog post.
“But I’ve spent the last four months immersing myself back into the Halo universe, and it’s my honor as creative director to help our team ship Halo Infinite in Fall 2021.
Yep, that’s when the game is coming out. And from now until then, every one of us at 343i and our great partner teams will be building, testing, and polishing an experience we hope all of you will love.”
The development period for the game has taken a ton of bumps throughout its cycle. Staten himself only joined back in August this year as the campaign lead. Director Chris Lee left around the end of October this year.
343 devs humbled from response to lackluster visuals
Halo Infinite now has a definite date of release, which is so far away from now.
Even then, part of the discussion was the lackluster visuals for the game’s graphics. During the demo, the visuals were subpar compared to fan expectations.
“The primary goal for the Campaign demo in July was showing Halo Infinite gameplay for the first time,” said Neil Harrison, the director of Art management for 343 Industries.
“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 343 Industries blog about Halo Infinite opens much more about the game’s dev cycle. It shows what the studio has finished so far and even the challenges they have to get over.
Featured image courtesy of Halo/YouTube Screenshot