Halo Infinite Villain and First Story Details Revealed

Xbox Game Studios and developer 343 Industries have revealed the first Halo Infinite story details, and in the process have confirmed the game’s villain. Some of these details we already knew thanks to previous leaks and rumors, but many of these narrative details are brand new. While Xbox announced Halo Infinite back in 2018, it hasn’t said a peep about the game’s story, until now that is.

As you could probably tell from the trailers, Halo Infinite takes place well after the events of Halo 5. At the moment, it’s unclear just how long after it takes place, but we do know — unsurprisingly — it’s a follow-up to the latest Halo game. Cortana is nowhere to be found and Master Chief is adrift in space until he’s discovered by a pilot, the man seen in the trailers.

“Chief and the Pilot are in exactly the same position as the player when the game starts,” said 343 Industries’ Paul Crocker while speaking to IGN. “They don’t know what’s happened. They’re learning what’s happening, together.”

According to 343 Industries, the game’s campaign is “several times larger” than the campaigns of Halo 4 and Halo 5 put together.

During the campaign, players will be taking on The Banished, a faction of rogue Brutes and Covenant who you may recognize as the baddies of Halo Wars 2. However, playing the 2017 strategy game is not required whatsoever to play Halo Infinite. Further, 343 Industries has made sure to make the story is completely digestible without reading any additive Halo novels or comic books. As you may know, this was a big complaint lodged against Halo 4 and Halo 5.

As for why 343 Industries has gone with The Banished, Crocker had the following to say:

“Because they’re super cool and everyone likes them,” said Crocker. “[The team wanted] to have something that’s an evolution of the Covenant so you get some of the familiar, but something that’s different [too], and it comes together to feel fresh.”

According to 343 Industries, the game is not only the conclusion to the Forerunner Saga, but will kick off a new story:

“It is the conclusion of events that have been set up in the past, but it is very forward-looking as well,” said Crocker. “We want places to go and we want new mysteries. It’s setting the foundation for future storytelling as well as tying some of those threads from the past. You don’t need to go through the whole franchise to learn and understand the fiction coming in, but if you do have that knowledge we want to reward that. You’ll see these [extended universe] elements and nostalgic moments. There have been a lot of goosebumps in the studio as we have [finished] different scenes and things that are in the game.”

During the gameplay demo revealed today, there’s a flashback sequence featuring the UNSC Infinity supercarrier. And the demo begs the questions: has it been destroyed? Well, apparently that’s a major driving force behind the narrative.

“The simple answer to that question is that that is one of the things Chief is going to discover during the game,” said Crocker. “What you saw in the montage at the end was us setting the stage for the journey the Chief and Pilot have been going through.”

Leading The Banished on this Halo Ring will be War Chief Escharum, who for now, 343 Industries isn’t saying much about, however, there’s a suggestion or two that there may be another baddie above him.

Halo Infinite is set to release worldwide sometime this holiday season via the Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC. For coverage on the upcoming sci-fi first-person shooter, click here.