One especially exciting video game announcement from this year was Halo: Infinite, the next installment in the core Halo franchise. Unfortunately, as has been the case with many products this year, the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic has forced Microsoft and 343 Industries to reveal that Halo: Infinite will be delayed until 2021.
The team behind Halo: Infinite were able to release an official statement regarding the unfortunate delay.
“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,” says Chris Lee, studio head for Halo Infinite. “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.”
Halo Infinite Development Update pic.twitter.com/TFZvXhRN9f
— Halo (@Halo) August 11, 2020
While it is a disappointing announcement that Halo: Infinite was delayed, it’s not exactly an unprecedented one. As stated above, the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic has been well known for causing delays for both movies and video games, among other things. So it was perhaps only a matter of time before Halo: Infinite was delayed, even though the game was proudly displayed at the recent Xbox Game Studios event.
Nevertheless, fans will have to wait now until sometime in 2021 before being able to play Halo: Infinite. With that said, the new Xbox Series X console is still scheduled for a release in November – although that’s just as likely to change as well. Hopefully we’ll have more news on the situation as it develops – so stay tuned to ScreenGeek for more information.