Halo Infinite is finally out after many years of anticipation and what was pretty eventful development and pre-launch marketing cycle, and though there are, of course, some niggling issues here and there, the general consensus seems to be that this is the best Halo has been in years. With a semi-open world approach, Infinite is also the series’ biggest and most open-ended game to date- but if things had gone to plan, it could even have ended up being significantly larger.
In a report published recently by Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, in which he conducted interviews with several current and former 343 Industries staff, it was revealed that initially, the studio planned on making Halo Infinite a much larger game with a much bigger and more varied world, with the closest analog being The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
However, multiple development troubles – such as personnel turnover, technical issues, mismanagement, and more – resulted in 343 Industries having to cut out two-thirds of the game in 2019, a year before the game’s originally planned November 2020 launch (which, of course, it would ultimately be unable to hit).
Of course, with Halo Infinite adopting a live service model, there’s every chance that 343 Industries might add more campaigns to the game in the future, so players will be hoping that many of those shelved ideas will eventually end up finding a way back into the game. With constant multiplayer updates, new multiplayer content, and major features such as campaign co-op and Forge though, it seems like 343 Industries is going to have its hands full over the coming months.
Halo Infinite is now available on Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and PC. You can read our multiplayer impressions through here– our full review of the game, including our thoughts on the campaign, will be going live later, so stay tuned.