Xbox has suffered a massive blow in the console wars as it has been revealed that the latest instalment of Halo has been delayed till 2021.
The announcement came on the same day that Microsoft revealed that their new game console, the Xbox Series X, will be launching this November, which Halo was supposed to launch alongside.
In an announcement released yesterday evening 343 industries Chris Lee, studio head for Halo Infinite, said that the decision was made to “ensure the team has adequate time to deliver a Halo game experience that meets our vision.”
Today I want to share an important Halo Infinite development update with the community. We have made the difficult decision to shift our release to 2021 to ensure the team has adequate time to deliver a Halo game experience that meets our vision.
The decision to shift our release is the result of multiple factors that have contributed to development challenges, including the ongoing COVID-related impacts affecting us all this year. I want to acknowledge the hard work from our team at 343 Industries, who have remained committed to making a great game and finding solutions to development challenges. However, it is not sustainable for the well-being of our team or the overall success of the game to ship it this holiday.
We know this will be disappointing to many of you and we all share in that sentiment. The passion and support the community has shown over the years has been incredible and inspiring. We wanted nothing more than to play our game with the community this holiday. The extra time will let us finish the critical work necessary to deliver the most ambitious Halo game ever at the quality we know our fans expect.
Thank you for your support and understanding. he said
No First Party Games at Launch
The delay means that the latest version of Xbox will launch without a first-party launch title giving fans no reason to choose the Series X over the PS5 when they are both made available.
Some fans are speculating that the negative response to the graphics at the game reveal last month is the real reason for the delay. After the reveal fans were complaining that Halo Reach, which launched 10 years earlier, looked better than the latest instalment. But only time will tell if that really is the case.
Damn How halo reach look better!?!?#XboxGamesShowcase
Halo reach Halo infinite pic.twitter.com/qLoOnoIYqA
— DemolishGuy (@DemoKev97) July 23, 2020
Xbox will be hoping that the lure of Gamepass and their promise of "thousands of games to play, spanning four generations" will be enough to keep people interested in choosing its console over the competitions.
What console will you be picking up?
