During Microsoft’s presentation of their lineup of next-generation consoles and launch titles, gamers had their first look at Halo Infinite. Rather than being met with praise and excitement, the game was panned for horrible AI, unfinished visuals that lent themselves more toward meme potential than they did player enthusiasm. Nearly every aspect of the presentation met some form of criticism.
Instead of pushing out a broken product, Microsoft pulled Infinite from their launch lineup. Pushing the game’s launch into 2021 with no further news on when players could expect the title. Then exciting news came as Microsoft began restructuring 343 Industries.
Former writer and creative director on the Halo series Joseph Staten was brought back on as creative lead on Infinite. With former lead Chris Lee resigning his position as creative lead at the same time. Chris Lee was the creative lead behind the kill master chief theme that saw Halo 5 experience low sales—leading to Halo Infinite’s reboot two years into its development. Before Halo 5, Lee was the senior lead producer on Halo 4, which featured bad lore editions that would later be retconned back to what was presented leading up to the game’s launch.
During his tenure, though not solely his fault, 343 was plagued with numerous production problems. With new management being brought on, the studio is reportedly being brought back into proper shape. However, no official confirmation has been offered for the restructuring rumors.
Studio Head Bonnie Ross has begun teasing when Halo fans will be able to delve into Halo Infinite. At first, she merely touted the usual PR lines of 2021 will be a huge year for the Halo Franchise. Later she would offer a more direct hint that the game will launch on Halo’s 20th anniversary.
So proud of the work this team has accomplished and looking forward to sharing more soon. Fall of 2021…hmm, doesn’t someone have an anniversary coming up? https://t.co/gB2ulpkx4J
— Bonnie Ross (@PlutonForEver) December 9, 2020
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
This next part cannot be independently confirmed as authentic, but Reddit user ryan19944 claims to have accidentally discovered a November 15th listing in Gamepass for Halo Infinite. In light of the aforementioned tease by the studio head, this claim either gains some veracity or ended up being a lucky guess.
As of now, there is no official confirmation that Halo: Infinite will launch on November 15th. That being said, Microsoft would have to be insanely incompetent to pass on the massive marketing opportunity that the date presents. Perhaps they won’t do it, but my money is solidly on Halo’s 20th anniversary being the release date.
