Halo Infinite Should Not Have Been Reported Back A Year
It’s been a rough year for Halo fans. 343 Industries launched Halo Infinite at the tail-end of 2021. The game’s core was outstanding. The open-world campaign gave Halo a new dimension. While the multiplayer was great fun, it also added an important element to its overall formula. While changed the shotgun, I still feel sad, there were many things to love.
We are now approaching the year anniversary of Halo Infinite’s release and it feels as though the ship is taking on water by a gallon. Season 3 of the multiplayer’s second season is now delayed to 2023. Campaign co-op was delayed until the end of the year, along with Forge mode. Local campaign co-op was axed. Despite this, players can still experience local co-op campaign modes, while the Forge mode was leaked to PC.
If the Forge mode’s creations are any indication, it should be an incredible addition to Halo Infinite. However, Halo Infinite is almost a year old and still has nothing to show for its existence. There is no new content, aside from a few maps and modes ( one being removed form matchmaking because of lack of popularity), and no major updates.
Hindsight is really 20:20. Now that we have lived through the launch of Halo Infinite, it’s difficult to not feel that the game should have been delayed by at least a year. While the launch version Halo Infinite was solid and a significant improvement on what it could have looked like if it had launched in 2020, a game such as Halo Infinite is governed by its postlaunch content. However, what has been provided so far has been inconsistent and lacks any real depth.
343 Industries is focusing on the co-op campaign, and Forge mode. These are two features that have been a staple of Halo Infinite for years but were removed from Halo Infinite’s launch. It seems that 343 Industries is playing catch up, sacrificing Halo Infinite’s future while 343 Industries focuses on the multiplayer. While the devs work out how two Master Chiefs can Grappleshot both the Banished simultaneously,
These difficulties Halo Infinite is facing are due to significant circumstances. The game was in active development for over a year during COVID. This likely played a major role in the content being held back. Forge is set to become the largest game ever, and the open-world nature of the campaign will likely add new challenges and difficulties to the development of the coop campaign.
This doesn’t change that Halo Infinite’s launch and subsequent handling has not been well-received by its player-base. Players are moving to more frequently than expected, and legacy fans are disappointed that long-standing features from the series have not been added to the game.
Halo Infinite cannot be delayed or unlaunched for more than a year. However, it can serve as a lesson for other publishers and developers. If you don’t want to launch your latest game without the features players expect and you plan on spending a year adding them in then you might delay the game until you can launch it with them. This seems to be a better option than Halo Infinite’s.
