Spencer: Halo Infinite Is Not A "Make Or Break" Moment For The Series, Doesn't Need Battle Royale

Halo Infinite is not a "make or break" moment for the series, according to Xbox boss Phil Spencer. Halo is a mega-franchise that will be here for the next decade, regardless of how Halo Infinite is received, the executive said in a new interview. He also touched on how the game's multiplayer is shaping up and why he doesn't believe the game needs battle royale.

Halo Infinite might not please 100% of people, but that's just part of being in the entertainment business, he added.

"I don't think it's a make or break. I just don't believe that," he told IGN. "There's going to be millions of people who play that game and love that game. And I'm sure there will be some people who will see opportunities for us to do more. And that's just the nature of being in the entertainment business, and we accept it."

Spencer went on to say that developers put enough pressure on themselves to make a great game, and he didn't want to add any more.

"Halo will be here 10 years from now. Is Infinite the lynchpin for whether or not it survives that long? Absolutely not. The game has such a rabid fanbase and such a history and lore that it's just an IP that's going to be with us. We don't take that for granted, but I definitely believe that in my core. I never want to put a team in a position where they feel like, 'Hey, this one's gotta land or who knows,'" he said.

Also in the interview, Spencer spoke about how some people commented that Halo Infinite should follow trends and add its own battle royale mode or that it needs to "reimagine" what multiplayer can be to stand out in the market. But Spencer doesn't believe this is the best path forward for Halo Infinite. Instead, he said he's happy and proud of Halo Infinite for really nailing the Arena experience that the franchise is known for. He said he believes people may respond positively to Halo Infinite's back-to-basics approach to multiplayer.

"With a lot of the innovations and evolutions that have happened in FPS multiplayer over the years, there was something very pure about coming back to a Halo Arena experience and how clean it was and how tight the gameplay loop was," he said. "Right now on our platform there are not a lot of games that are going back to that tried and true formula and perfecting what they have, and I think that's what the goal of this team is."

The traditional Arena mode for Halo Infinite, comprising standard 4v4 head-to-head and 12v12 Big Team Battle, is all that's confirmed so far, but Spencer teased more modes will be revealed later. If fans respond positively to Halo Infinite's Arena, this gives license to the developers to branch out with something new later on, Spencer said.

"If you don't get that right, you don't get permission to do anything else," he said.

Halo Infinite is a live service game that will grow and evolve over time with new content. The game will have three-month seasons and new battle passes for players to work through, though the studio doesn't want players to have to grind. As such, battle pass content will never expire.

Halo Infinite launches this holiday for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC. The multiplayer element is free-to-play and the campaign is included with Xbox Game Pass. Microsoft hasn't announced a specific release date yet, but the company is preparing to do that.