After Halo Infinite was delayed indefinitely, plenty of people peculated as to when it would return. If you had "fall 2021" on your squares, you win. Halo Infinite will return ahead of the holiday season a year from now.
In a lengthy blog post, newly appointed creative director Joseph Staten spoke about where the game has been since we last saw it, where it is now, and where it will be a year from now, which is in stores and on Xbox Game Pass.
"I joined 343i right as the team was wrestling with feedback from the July campaign demo," Staten said. "This discussion boiled down to one fundamental truth: we needed more time to do things right." Staten added that the team "pushed hard" in the fall, will take some much-earned for the holidays, then return in January to finish the game "at a healthy pace." Staten's optimistic blog intro gave way to several member on his team who each shared updates on how their side of things is coming along. They dished on subjects such as the campaign, the visual quality of the game (which became a meme after the July demo), and the game's cosmetic offerings for multiplayer Spartans.
At the end, Staten returned to close it out and reveal a few more details. "My first week on the job, I played the entire Infinite campaign. Twice, "Staten humblebragged. "I was, in a word, stunned—in the best possible way—by what the team had done. Infinite is, by far, the most expansive and vertical Halo world, ever. Why did the team do this? Because they understand that wonder and freedom are key to the Halo experience."
He continued, and hinted at a more open-ended Halo than ever before.
"Everywhere I looked, I saw choices: Do I explore off the golden path? Assault that Banished war base guarding the valley pass? Follow a flight of Forerunner Sentinels into that unexpected cavern? Rescue a squad of marines dug-in and desperate halfway up that mountain? Or do I keep pulling the mainline story thread that feels epic and intimate at the exact same time?"
Staten said this update is the first of many, more regularly recurring updates planned for the final stretch of development. Halo Infinite is set to arrive in fall 2021.
