Halo Infinite Studio Head Promises Delay Will Be Worth It

In a holiday roundup post on Halo Waypoint, 343 Industries studio head Bonnie Ross has addressed fans' disappointment about the newly announced Halo Infinite release window, but has promised that the delay is happening for a reason.

The Waypoint post includes updates on the Master Chief Collection, the Halo Esports community, and even the upcoming live action Halo TV show, but closes out with a message from studio head Bonnie Ross. Though the message is focused on the studio's successes of 2020, including five releases as part of the Master Chief Collection on PC, Ross also touches on the conversation around Infinite's delay.

"2021 will be a big year for the Halo franchise," Ross says. "As we recently announced, Halo Infinite will release in fall of 2021. I realize the wait has been difficult, and I assure you that the team wants the game in your hands as soon as possible, but they also want to deliver something special…the Halo game you deserve. Thank you for your patience, your understanding, and most importantly your words of support to the team. I cannot express how grateful I am for the Halo community and the encouragement you've expressed to us. It has lifted us up and provided us the fuel to keep going. As you saw from the recent blog post, the team is making tremendous progress and is SO eager to show you more."

Halo Infinite was originally meant to release as a launch title with the Xbox Series X|S (also coming to Xbox One), but was later delayed into 2021. 343 only recently narrowed that release window to fall 2021.

Though Halo Infinite is coming to Xbox One as well, it was a strong contender to be a showpiece for the new Xbox Series X|S. The new release window will put Infinite's release nearly a year behind what was initially announced--though as Cyberpunk 2077's messy launch recently proved, sometimes it's better to give developers the time they need to polish a game of this scope.