There was a ton of hype and anticipation for Microsoft’s E3 2019 press conference. This event would be the first major reveal for 343 Industries next Halo installment, which is known as Halo Infinite. That event came and left fans a bit disappointed as we didn’t get a gameplay trailer for the title, but instead, a cinematic trailer reveal. While the footage was entertaining and help set the game narrative up just a tad, fans were hopeful of the gameplay reveal set to release in the near future.
343 Industries claimed that a gameplay reveal was set to take place during E3 2020 but as you all know, that event didn’t occur. Thanks to the health pandemic outbreak that is the coronavirus, we didn’t get much in terms of any event this year. Shortly after 2020 hit, most events and expos were cancelled and there’s no telling just when we’ll see these events make a return. As a result, the different expos were transitioned to online streams such as Microsoft holding multiple online streams to showcase content that they have coming out in the near future.
During a July stream for Microsoft’s Xbox Series X, we finally got the gameplay footage promised from 343 Industries and the fan reception was lackluster. There were some visual issues and the level of detail for a next-generation platform game didn’t really look that impressive. This ultimately leads 343 Industries to announce that they would make some fixes in time for the game release, but that didn’t last. Instead, the game was pushed back into 2021 instead of being a big hitter launch title on the Xbox Series X.
This news eventually leads to reports going up online after Thurott had sources claiming that there were a few issues that made 343 Industries delay the game. For starters, there was more outsourcing with this game which resulted in the title not coming together as the studio had hoped for. However, another issue that has come up was that 343 Industries was supposedly distracted by the Halo TV series.
Showtime is currently creating a Halo TV series adaptation and it was receiving some necessary help from 343 Industries. According to the sources for Thurott, the development studio was spending more time with the TV series rather than developing the next mainline Halo installment. That is now being refuted by 343 Industries who released a statement to IGN. The statement claims that the studio was not distracted and that there was a separate team that was aiding the TV series and not directly developing Halo Infinite. At any rate, Halo Infinite is still slated to launch next year in 2021.
