The release of Halo Infinite has been officially pushed back to ‘Fall 2021’, meaning we’ll have to wait a good few months until we can finally step into the boots of Master Chief once again.
Halo developers, 343 Industries, confirmed the news via a Twitter post, citing required improvements to the visuals being one of the biggest factors behind the delay.
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Director of Art Management at 343, Neill Harrison, said, “The art and visuals weren’t at the bar we hold for Halo – even in a work-in-progress state.”
“The feedback we heard from the community aligned with our own views and work we were already committed to doing around things like indirect lighting, material response, foliage and tree rendering, clouds, level-of-detail transitions, and character fidelity,” he added. “Still, the feedback was humbling, and it also pushed us to look at additional opportunities for improvement.”
The good news is that 343 Industries shared some in-game screenshots of Halo Infinite via a blog post, and it’s already looking significantly better than what we saw in the first gameplay demo a couple of months ago. The images show an early snapshot of a multiplayer map, which boasts fantastic lighting effects and high-fidelity textures.
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Customisation options for armour, weapons, and vehicles were also detailed for multiplayer matches, with 343 Industries introducing a new ‘coating’ system that allows players to “define color, wear and tear, patterns, and materials on a region-by-region basis.” This should result in more varied Spartan armour rather than just having a few different colour options like in Halo 5.
So while Xbox and PC gamers may be disappointed by the additional months they’ll have to wait in order to play Halo Infinite, it looks like the postponement is well justified, with 343 Industries hard at work addressing concerns from its fanbase. And like with any delay, it’s only good news since we’ll be getting a better end product as a result.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
