Halo Infinite is the long-awaited next entry in the series on Xbox Series X. After being revealed all the way back in 2018, Halo Infinite has finally been revealed, with a new trailer showing us 8 minutes of gameplay.
This is 343 Industries' third mainline Halo game, after Halo 4 and 5. It's been confirmed that Halo Infinite is coming to Xbox Series X, Xbox One and PC, and it'll be available on Game Pass from day one, which is a huge deal.
Halo Infinite is launching in late 2020. Here's everything we know about the game so far.
Halo Infinite: key facts
- What is it? The sixth game in the main Halo series
- When is it out? "Holiday 2020" (So between October and December 2020)
- What can I play it on? Xbox One, PC and Xbox Series X
- Will Halo Infinite be on Xbox Game Pass? Yes, from day one
- Will Halo Infinite have split-screen multiplayer? Yes
Halo Infinite release date
We now know that Halo Infinite is coming at the end of 2020, to coincide with the launch of the Xbox Series X (though it will be a cross-generation title). Microsoft has given a release window of "Holiday 2020", so we're expecting the game to release, alongside the Xbox Series X, sometime between October and December 2020.
We think a November release date is the most likely as that's when, historically, Microsoft has previously launched new consoles. But as of the Xbox Games Showcase, no further info has been revealed.
It's a bit longer than we might have expected since the last Halo title – Halo 5: Guardians, back in 2015 – but we don't blame Microsoft for making sure they have the goods for a new console launch. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, after all.
Halo Infinite gameplay
The main event of the Xbox Games Showcase in July 2020 was the gameplay reveal trailer for Halo Infinite, which you can watch above. You'll see a very traditionally Halo-looking game in action, with familiarly verdant environments, as well as iconic weapons and vehicles from the series, including the Warthog. It's reassuringly Halo-like, but leagues ahead in terms of presentation compared to the older games.
We see something called the 'TacMap' in action, which suggests a somewhat open world-looking game (as well as an Upgrades option), and battles with the Banished, Halo Infinite's main antagonists previously seen in Halo Wars 2. We see a grappling hook revealed, too, which lets you pull enemies towards you.
It's a beautiful-looking showcase of what the console is capable of, and an exciting teaser of more to come from 343 Industries.
Halo Infinite trailer
Microsoft began its Xbox Games Showcase for the Xbox Series X with a beautiful-looking CG teaser trailer for Halo Infinite, followed by the gameplay demo above. The first trailer shows Master Chief's Mjolnir armor being reforged. Check it out below:
Check out the Halo Infinite 2019 E3 teaser below too, in case you missed that:
Halo Infinite was officially announced during Microsoft's E3 2018 conference, with the below teaser.
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Halo Infinite box art
On July 22, ahead of the Xbox Series X games showcase, Microsoft revealed the game's box art. Here's what it looks like in full. It's very nostalgic in style, portraying Master Chief on a very traditional-looking Halo ring.
Halo infinite news and features
Lessons from the Master Chief Collection
In an interview with Polygon, Xbox boss Phil Spencer teased that Halo Infinite could see a change in structure from previous Halo games - instead drawing inspiration from the Master Chief Collection and suggesting we could see Halo Infinite release as part of an overall collection,
"There's been a ton of learning in the studio around what does it mean to actually have a collection, the kind of totality of the Halo lore and stories and experience inside of one Halo world, one Halo UI, and platform," Spencer told Polygon. "As 343 has gone through this journey, they've seen some of the benefits of not requiring that our customers make a decision between 'Do I want to play this one or that one?' I feel like in a way, the games almost compete with each other. You see that with some of the annualized franchises that are out there - which clearly Halo's not annualized - but you see that where you spend a lot of energy actually trying to move the customers who are already playing your game to a new version of your game. I think as gaming has evolved, there's a view of 'our customers are our customers and we should respect them where they are.' It's similar to our Xbox message, and I think you'll see that in terms of the way Infinite is talked about--even the structure of what the game is itself."
Halo Infinite spoilers are coming from from an unlikely source
Savvy Halo fans may have uncovered important Halo Infinite details ahead of the Halo Infinite gameplay reveal. But this information wasn't gathered from datamining or leakers – instead it came from toys.
Mega Bloks recently revealed its Mega Construx Halo Infinite range, which features characters you would expect to see such as Master Chief and UNSC marines. However, fans on Reddit spotted that the toy range seems to also reveal Halo Infinite story spoilers (via Eurogamer). You can check out the spoilers here.
Banished are antagonists
The official Halo Twitter account posted a Halo Infinite story teaser which teased the coming of the Banished before the Xbox Games Showcase confirmed it. The tweet included a video of a transmission, featuring a garbed voice, saying:
"The hour approaches. Forces occupy the ring. Within hours, it will be under our control. Humanity will burn. The brazen defiance will be all but a memory. No more Prophets. No more lies. We stand together, brothers to the end. We are his will, we are his legacy, we are The Banished."
Check it out below:
SIGNAL DETECTED pic.twitter.com/LNQcoc4spAJune 24, 2020
Xbox Series X's SSD will make a "huge difference" for devs, says Halo co-creator
Speaking to VGC, former Bungie art director, Marcus Lehto, explained that the Xbox Series X's custom SSD will give developers much more freedom.
“It will make a huge difference,” Lehto told VGC. “It will open up the door for more expansive content that can stream a lot faster. Players won’t be waiting on load screens and we won’t have to hide loading behind cinematics and that kind of thing.
“It will just help make things a lot more seamless and fluid for the player when it comes to their experience on those consoles.
“I am really excited about that because that’s one of the things that’s really hard for us in particular right now: dealing with those old platforms."
We can't wait to see how Halo Infinite developer, 343 Industries, will harness the power of this SSD - even if its not packing as much power as the PS5's super-fast SSD.
Covid-19 update
Halo Infinite developer, 343 Industries, is working from home to deliver the game in time for its late-2020 release date.
The developer revealed in a blog post that, due to Covid-19 concerns, Microsoft has instructed the studio to work from home, however the team is continuing to work on Halo Infinite remotely to deliver the game for its scheduled release window.
"We're removing all the obstacles in our path and tracking well, but need to be mindful of our current limitations and understand that the coronavirus situation may get worse before it gets better," the blog post reads. "Rest assured that every single one of us is doing everything in our power to continue developing and delivering quality Halo experiences while we adjust to this new way of life."
Halo Infinite will be a cross-generation title
While the launch of Halo Infinite will coincide with release of the next Xbox console, Xbox Series X, the game will also be playable on the current generation of Xbox One, Xbox One S, and Xbox One X consoles.
Halo Infinite will undoubtedly look better on its newer hardware – we hope so, at least – but at least nobody has to miss out.
Halo franchise director Frank O'Connor put fears about the quality difference to rest, though, saying at a Halo Outpost event in Orlando (July 2019) that "Xbox One is not going to be a second-class citizen" (via GamesRadar).
Multiplayer
Halo Infinite, and all mainstream Halo games after it, will include split-screen co-op multiplayer. Bonnie Ross, head of 343, confirmed this piece of news in February at DICE 2017.
The decision to remove split-screen co-op from Halo 5, in favor of an online-only version, was met with criticism from fans, as it had been a staple Halo feature that had been around since the first game was released in 2001. Ross said Halo 5’s removal was “painful”, adding that "It erodes trust with the community. [We’ve had a] lot of learnings from that, and I would say for any FPS going out forward we will always have split screen going forward."
Despite this, Franchise Coordinator Frank O’Connor has confirmed that the studio won’t be abandoning the co-op systems that were first introduced in Halo 5. These systems included the option to drop in and out of gameplay at will, four-player cooperative play, and specialized loadouts for the different playable Spartans in the campaign.
Following the troubled launch of The Master Chief Collection back in 2014, Bonnie Ross told Game Informer (via IGN) that all Halo games will have some sort of beta prior to the official release. This is to ensure that many issues that plagued The Master Chief Collection’s multiplayer do not happen again. After successful betas for Halo 5 and Halo Wars 2, there’s no reason to think that the studio would suddenly change its mind for Halo Infinite.
It’s yet to be announced whether the beta will be available to everyone, or just those who receive a code by purchasing a different game.
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