Here’s Why Halo Infinite Should Be Delayed to 2022 by Logan Moore for Comicbook.com
From the outside looking in, it just doesn’t seem like Halo Infinite is ready to release this year. While many other publishers would feel a need to rush their games out because of fiscal calendars and such, Xbox has already shown that it’s bucking the traditional release format as it is. With Xbox Game Pass becoming the main way in which Microsoft wants consumers to interact with its first-party titles, getting a game out before Black Friday, for instance, doesn’t carry the same weight as it would to another publisher. So why is there even so much urgency to ensure that Halo Infinite releases before 2021 comes to a close?
Logan nails exactly how I have felt about Halo Infinite since E3 2021. Clearly, there is pressure to get this game out. I imagine they feel multiplayer is in a good enough spot to release and start raking in the money from battle passes et al., since the whole multiplayer suite has switched to free-to-play. The game has cost hundreds of millions to make alongside the new Slipspace engine and Microsoft clearly wants to start recouping those costs.
Where it truly feels rushed is when considering that this game was supposed to launch last year, presumably with all its features in tow. Now it is coming in hot to December with two keystone features on the back burner for 6 months. I think they just need to delay the game and release 1.0 in a completed state. The game may be “living,” especially with its free-to-play nature, but launch is important. I know I won’t be playing the campaign until co-op launches.
Halo Infinite feels like it is going to be launching in a “early access” state.
It’s not too late for Microsoft to pull the plug on December 8. Honestly, I could see them doing that. They clearly had no confidence in a date for E3, but do for a massive RPG (Starfield) to give its date a year and half ahead. The would tease fans during their own Gamescom stream to turn into Opening Night Live. Microsoft just doesn’t seem to have any confidence in their biggest IP (all right, maybe their biggest IP before they bought Skyrim). It’s not a good look. A poor, incomplete launch won’t look good either.
Also, I promise this has nothing to do with a prediction riding on Halo being delayed again.