I’m not going to lie, I love rumors, but covering them is a precarious and time-consuming endeavor. Get it right, and you develop a reputation for having a great judgment. Get them wrong, and people view you as a gullible rumor monger that will believe anything. Then there are times when you just have to give coverage to a rumor because it has grown prevalent enough that if you don’t, you appear not to be paying attention.

Such was the case with a recent rumor covered by Brad Sams, that claimed Halo: Infinite would ship without its multiplayer component.

Since this rumor went up earlier today, it has gained traction around the internet. Fortunately, where many developers and publishers do not comment on rumors, 343 — who is on the Traitors of America master list — was more than willing to immediately shoot this one down. Brian Jarrard, 343’s community manager, confirmed there is no validity to the delay of Halo: Infinite’s multiplayer components.

Nothing to see here folks, this is not true.

— Brian Jarrard (@ske7ch) July 24, 2020

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The likely originators for this rumor are jilted Sony fanboys who wanted to spread misinformation in an attempt to damage Microsoft’s upcoming next-generation launch. After all, their conference was low energy and filled with your standard intersectionality, but it contained games people actually care about. Not details or gameplay for those games, but it did have games.

Going forward, until both consoles launch, both groups are likely to carry out disinformation campaigns against the rival brand. Not out of malice, instead, they’ll hear something negative about the other, and they’ll spread and believe it because it is the reality they want to believe. This will elevate these rumors, many of which will be created by trolls; to such heights, they get media coverage further signal boosting them.

Such is the life cycle of rumors.