Another bad day for Xbox Series X and Series S users: Master Chief’s next-gen debut is going to have to wait a little longer, as developer 343 Industries has delayed the release of Halo Infinite until August next year.
Halo Infinite was supposed to be an Xbox Series X launch title, however as the launch of Microsoft’s next-gen console drew closer its developers pushed the release until 2021. Now the game’s art director and its development manager have let fans know that the game is delayed once more, in order to further polish it up.
Speaking to the fans directly via a Q&A, Neill Harrison – the director or art manage – said, “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.”
Earlier this year, 343 Industries unveiled a controversial demo of the game. However, the general feeling was that the graphics for the new game were not up to scratch, especially for a title debuting on a next-generation console.
Then more scorn was poured on the game by fans, after being made aware of a new micro-transaction service that would only allow you to pick up certain armour types if you bought corresponding products (such as snack and drinks from sponsored partners).
Halo is one of the biggest franchises owned by Microsoft, and so its delay will impact fans of the console greatly. Let’s hope that extra time (almost a year) will give 343 the time to get it right.
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