Halo Infinite Prototypes Included Hero-Based Systems for PvP and PvE

Much has been said about Halo Infinite’s development troubles, from technical issues with the Slipspace Engine to an incredible scale that eventually had to be dialed down. However, during the game’s development, it seems that 343 Industries was also prototyping systems for hero-based gameplay.

It all began when YouTuber Chris Ray Gun tweeted how, “It would be crazy if it came out one day that a lot of the budget went to an Overwatch clone that they spent half of the dev time making before realizing it wasn’t working and were forced to make this version of Infinite in the last two years of development. That’d be nuts.”

This led to Justin Robey, who worked on the game as a senior insights project manager, replying, “That didn’t happen.” In a follow-up tweet, he noted, “Well I worked and shipped the game. So there is no leak. We prototyped a bunch of stuff as we worked on the game which is never wasted time. But the way it’s being spun is super inaccurate. It was in the time allotted for the game to go through those design cycles.”

Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier would subsequently reveal on Reddit that 343 Industries had indeed prototyped hero-based systems for the shooter. “This was actually cut from my article late last year – yes, 343 spent a while prototyping a hero-based system. I don’t remember exactly when they switched to the current version (and the tweet linked here seems exaggerated to the point where it’s mostly false) but I can confirm that they were working on various hero-based prototypes. In fact, I think there were both PVP and PVE prototypes built.”

Schreier also replied to Robey on Twitter, agreeing that the story was being exaggerated “to the point of falsehood.” “The people spinning this as some sort of a ‘this is why the game was ruined’ story are exaggerating to the point of falsehood. The production problems, as I wrote about last year, were largely the result of a lack of coherent vision, frustrating tools, and the contractor system.” When asked why 343 Industries didn’t fix or avoid these issues after three games “failing,” he responded, “Fixing systemic issues is really hard. Can’t just flip a switch.”

All in all, this sounds like an idea for Halo Infinite (that ended up being prototyped) instead of an integral feature that demanded tons of resources and then had to be removed or pared back (like the reported open world reminiscent of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild’s). So put those pitchforks down.

Currently, 343 Industries is readying Season 2: Lone Wolves for release on May 3rd which will add two new maps, two brand new modes – Last Spartan Standing and Land Grab – and returning modes like King of the Hill. A battle royale mode, codenamed Tatanka, is also rumored to be in the works at Certain Affinity with a possible reveal in June. Stay tuned for more details in the meantime.

It would be crazy if it came out one day that a lot of the budget went to an Overwatch clone that they spent half of the dev time making before realizing it wasn't working and were forced to make this version of Infinite in the last two years of development.

That'd be nuts.

— Chris Ray Gun (@ChrisRGun) April 22, 2022

That didn’t happen.

— Robeytech (@robeytech) April 24, 2022

Well I worked and shipped the game. So there is no leak. We prototyped a bunch of stuff as we worked on the game which is never wasted time. But the way it’s being spun is super inaccurate. It was in the time allotted for the game to go through those design cycles.

— Robeytech (@robeytech) April 24, 2022

Yes, people spinning this as some sort of a "this is why the game was ruined" story are exaggerating to the point of falsehood.

The production problems, as I wrote about last year, were largely the result of a lack of coherent vision, frustrating tools, and the contractor system

— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) April 24, 2022