The next installment in the franchise, Halo Infinite, is going to be a pretty big deal for Microsoft. It not only is the latest entrant to the block buster franchise, but also the launch title for the highly anticipated Project Scarlett. The next generation Xbox, directly competing against the Playstation 5. Both are said to be launched by the holiday season, and with more and more number of people being indoors due to an ongoing pandemic, this time the console war is gonna get bloodier. Here are the launch details and everything we know so far.
Right now we don’t have much details apart from the teaser from E3 2019, and a mysterious teaser dropped in the last week of June. But we won”t have to wait long to get more solid details about the next halo as Microsoft has confirmed it will revealing Halo Infinite gameplay for the first time during its first-party Xbox Series X games event on July 23.
What do we know so far?
We know that the launch will be sometime in Holiday 2020, which will also coincide with the launch of the new Xbox. In months terms, it would be sometime in between October and December. November looks like a more probably date as historically most of the Halo games have been launched during this time. A November launch could also be a callback to Halo: Combat evolved as it launched on 15 November 2001 as the launch title for Xbox 1. Since the teaser dropped at E3 2019 did have elements of sound and references to the past, it’ll be interesting to see if Microsoft does the same for the launch date.
Other than that, apart from the Hope teaser we haven’t seen much of Halo Infinite, but 343 Industries has talked a little bit about it since the initial announcement. So far, discussion of the game has focused on the new engine 343 spent years building, resulting in the new graphical style and many more changes we’ll likely see in the future.
- Forge mode: It’s back!
- The Halo ring: Broken but still there
- Micro-transactions: Maybe, hope it does’t turn the EA way.
- Battle Royale mode: Nope, 343 Industries has said it isn’t planning one.
Will Covid-19 affect its launch?
So far no, 343 Industries in a blog post said that the company is transitioning into a work from home mode and the project will remain on schedule. “We’re removing all the obstacles in our path and tracking well, but need to be mindful of our current limitations and understand that the coronavirus situation may get worse before it gets better. Rest assured that every single one of us is doing everything in our power to continue developing and delivering quality Halo experiences while we adjust to this new way of life,” the post reads. But a fixed date at this time should be taken with a pinch of salt.
Nonetheless July 23 is now the date to look forward to, when Microsoft will be revealing more details about the game. Can’t keep calm. Till then, here’s a picture from 2001 when Bill Gates and The Rock shared the stage for launch of the Xbox. Yes, that’s bill gates and the Rock!
