Halo Infinite Is Promising Big Structural Changes

Halo Infinite is shaping up to be one of Microsoft's biggest holiday releases, but we still haven't seen much aside from some cinematic trailers. It stands to reason that it will basically look and play like a Halo game, but Xbox boss Phil Spencer recently hinted that some bigger structural changes may be coming as well. And it may be borrowing some ideas from The Master Chief Collection.

"There's been a ton of learning in the studio around what does it mean to actually have a collection, the kind of totality of the Halo lore and stories and experience inside of one Halo world, one Halo UI, and platform," Spencer told Polygon. "As 343 has gone through this journey, they've seen some of the benefits of not requiring that our customers make a decision between 'Do I want to play this one or that one?' I feel like in a way, the games almost compete with each other. You see that with some of the annualized franchises that are out there--which clearly Halo's not annualized--but you see that where you spend a lot of energy actually trying to move the customers who are already playing your game to a new version of your game. I think as gaming has evolved, there's a view of 'Our customers are our customers and we should respect them where they are.' It's similar to our Xbox message, and I think you'll see that in terms of the way Infinite is talked about--even the structure of what the game is itself."

The Master Chief Collection encompasses all the previous Halo games under one umbrella, including Achievements and progression that is tracked across the multiplayer in multiple games. That could mean that Halo Infinite will similarly crossover with other games. Or Spencer could be referring to future plans, with Halo Infinite planned to last well into the future. The title certainly implies a long-term plan, and 343 is planning to move away from numbered sequels and use Infinite as a platform.

We recently learned more about Halo Infinite, as Microsoft showed gameplay at event on Thursday, July 23. That event gave us a taste of the Halo Infinite campaign, but multiplayer remains a mystery.

Though Halo Infinite is scheduled for this fall alongside a brand-new console launch, it won't be exclusive to Xbox Series X. Microsoft has already stated that it isn't planning any Series X-exclusive games for the first few years. Instead, all first-party games will be available on both Xbox One and Xbox Series X, and Microsoft's Smart Delivery feature will detect which hardware you're using and optimize it. Halo Infinite is also coming to PC.