Head of Xbox Phil Spencer has discussed his regret around the original announcement of Halo Infinite as an Xbox Series X/S launch game, saying that his team should have been honest with itself about whether the game was ready to show off and release.
Speaking to British GQ, Spencer looked back the original gameplay reveal of Halo Infinite, which was famously shown off and delayed shortly afterwards: “I don’t like how we did it. I don’t like that we showed the game, talked about it launching at the launch of the consoles. And then within a month we had moved it.”
Spencer added that the decision to delay Halo Infinite just a few months before its intended launch wasn't an attempt to fool anyone: “We should have known before and just been honest with ourselves. We were there not out of deception, but more out of... hope. And I don't think hope is a great development strategy.”
The delay has lasted more than a year, but early signs point to that having been a worthwhile wait. After a campaign hands-on, we said that "most of our concerns about Master Chief’s long-awaited spiritual reboot melted away." Meanwhile, a technical preview of the multiplayer mode left us very enthused.
Even Craig – a brutal, if funny, meme about the quality of Halo Infinite's original visuals – is now seen as a positive factor for the final game. Developer 343 has made clear that Craig, "was one of the factors in gaining some more time to finish work and get Brutes to a place where the team is happy with them. This is one of the many positive examples of 343 working with and aligning with the Halo community around expectations."
We've got a lot more Halo Infinite as part of our month-long IGN First, from an unboxing of its limited edition console, to a reveal of one of its new villains, to information on how its multiplayer mode will approach battle passes.
Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.
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Speaking to British GQ, Spencer looked back the original gameplay reveal of Halo Infinite, which was famously shown off and delayed shortly afterwards: “I don’t like how we did it. I don’t like that we showed the game, talked about it launching at the launch of the consoles. And then within a month we had moved it.”
Spencer added that the decision to delay Halo Infinite just a few months before its intended launch wasn't an attempt to fool anyone: “We should have known before and just been honest with ourselves. We were there not out of deception, but more out of... hope. And I don't think hope is a great development strategy.”
The delay has lasted more than a year, but early signs point to that having been a worthwhile wait. After a campaign hands-on, we said that "most of our concerns about Master Chief’s long-awaited spiritual reboot melted away." Meanwhile, a technical preview of the multiplayer mode left us very enthused.
Even Craig – a brutal, if funny, meme about the quality of Halo Infinite's original visuals – is now seen as a positive factor for the final game. Developer 343 has made clear that Craig, "was one of the factors in gaining some more time to finish work and get Brutes to a place where the team is happy with them. This is one of the many positive examples of 343 working with and aligning with the Halo community around expectations."
We've got a lot more Halo Infinite as part of our month-long IGN First, from an unboxing of its limited edition console, to a reveal of one of its new villains, to information on how its multiplayer mode will approach battle passes.
Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.
Continue reading...
