Xbox and 343 Industries have announced that Halo Infinite has been delayed and will no longer release this holiday season alongside the Xbox Series X. Rather, the new, cross-gen Halo will release on Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC sometime in 2021. According to 343 Industries, the delay is a result of the team simply needing more time to deliver the game they want to deliver. The developer doesn’t say if recent feedback about the game’s visuals has anything to do with the delay, but it’s possible given how much blowback the game got when its gameplay was revealed last month.
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343 Industries adds that the COVID-19 pandemic has also caused considerable disruption to the development pipeline. Further, the developer adds the delay will provide the crucial time the team needs as it attempts to deliver the most ambitious title in the series yet.
Unfortunately, there’s no word when in 2021 the game will release. For all we know it could be within the first few months, or this could be a delay to holiday 2021.
“Today I want to share an important Halo Infinite development update with the community,” writes 343 Industries of the delay. “We have made the difficult decision to shift our release to 2021 to ensure the team has adequate time to deliver a Halo game experience that meets our vision. The decision to shift our release is the result of multiple factors that have contributed to development challenges, including the ongoing COVID-related impacts affecting us all this year. I want to acknowledge the hard work from our team at 343 Industries, who have remained committed to making a great game and finding solutions to development challenges. However, it is not sustainable for the well-being of our team or the overall success of the game to ship it this holiday.”
The statement continues:
“We know this will be disappointing to many of you and we all share in that sentiment. The passion and support the community has shown over the years has been incredible and inspiring. We wanted nothing more than to play our game with the community this holiday. The extra time will let us finish the critical work necessary to deliver the most ambitious Halo game ever at the quality we know our fans expect. Thank you for your support and understanding.”
Halo Infinite Development Update pic.twitter.com/TFZvXhRN9f
— Halo (@Halo) August 11, 2020
Halo Infinite will release worldwide sometime in 2021 via the Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC.
