Halo Infinite and Forza Motorsport Teams Given More Time For Development, Says Phil Spencer

Microsoft brought quite a few first party titles to E3 this year, but in spite of that, there were quite a few big franchises and studios that were missing- and the biggest one that wasn’t missing – Halo Infinite – is still a ways off from release yet. And according to Xbox boss Phil Spencer, that’s because with all their new studios, they’re in a position to be able to afford their developers more time to make their games, rather than rushing them to put out new products every year.

Speaking in an interview with Kotaku, Spencer specifically mentioned Turn 10 Studios and 343 Industries, both of whom, according to him, have been given more time by Microsoft to make the game they want to make, while also hinting that there’s more waiting in the wings as far as announcements from Microsoft’s first party studios are concerned, which is something Microsoft execs have mentioned more than once now.

“We were really able to focus on what’s coming now, which I think is awesome,” said Spencer of Microsoft’s E3 showing. “And then I think about the studios: where was Initiative? Where was [Forza Motorsport studio] Turn 10? Where was Playground’s second team?

“It was nice, and this hasn’t always been the case with our first-party line-up, where we’ve had the ability to not show everything all the time. In the case of Forza, I want the team, just like we did 343 [Industries].

“We gave them time—we did, what, four Halos in four years?—giving them an opportunity to really think and have a creative impact when they launch. Turn 10 is similar. I want to give them time to think through their plans.

“I love what they do with Motorsport, but you’ve got to be able to listen to your studios when they need time and they want to focus on more things. And as you have more content, you’re able to do that.”

Halo Infinite is primed to have a big E3 next year, which is something that Microsoft have already confirmed, while Turn 10 confirmed earlier this year that Forza Motorsport 8 had entered early development, which means we should be hearing more from them next year as well. With Xbox Scarlett launching in Holiday 2020, one would imagine Microsoft is gearing up for a strong first party launch lineup.