DF Direct: Halo Infinite Delay Reaction - Xbox 'Series S' Confirmed?

Games don’t take years to make by moving sliders up and down. Even those PC options take time to optimize. An effect like AO is cheaper now than it was 10 years ago. Algorithms evolve, developers learn more efficient ways to deploy effects.

Again I’m not asking for the next gen reboot. Even those things you ask for would be much easier to accomplish if they dropped the current gen consoles.

The problem is that they don’t seem to have that either, they were clearly banking on Halo Infinite to carry the SX for the first few months, I wonder if there’s still time for them to get a deal on a 3rd party game. I’m honestly surprised that there’s no Dead Rising 5 or something like that for launch… I’m probably worrying too much but I don’t want Xbox to get massively outsold again, that would suck because then you’d have certain games skipping the platform.

I guess MS will try to compete on price? I do wonder if this could factor into the SX’s price. Not having a bug exclusive at launch but being much cheaper will help. Just my thoughts.

I’ll admit. I’m not a huge Halo fan anymore. But it irks me that they’re suckling up resources from the insanely talented Playground, which means taking resources away from Fable.

Of course the delay just fuels the fire that Xbox One is holding back the Series X, and I get that, but I’m not sure why Halo has to be “a graphical showpiece” game. Why can’t it just be a great game? This gen proved once again that being a great game that’s fun is much more important. Games like Apex Legends, BotW (well, most Nintendo games), Fortnite, etc, aren’t graphical showpieces by any stretch, but very successful and well loved. Personally, I love that 343 have put such an emphasis on resolution and frame rate. Funny that DF suddenly thinks native 4K is a waste. XGS always gets more out of the base Xbox One than third party devs. Gears 4/5, Halo 5, all the Forza games look great on the base Xbox One. If they deliver a great, fun, polished experience, that’s all I want.

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Should I loose more money on consoles or use my budget to improve GP more, draw more people to the ecosystem? hmm…

I imagine that they could lose money on consoles which should help with console sales and will get them more potential GP subscribers, we’ll see!

I agree and seems like all the XGS are doing the same.

No they would not. Look at switch ports, the 1x versions dont suffer because of the switch versions. Dropping current gen would only make sense if they had years to essentially remake the game, or they would just be artificially keeping the game off current gen, like what gearbox/sony are doing with godfall.

There is no reason for Halo not to be a graphical powerhouse, none whatsoever. Halo CE was a gorgeous game at launch and looked better than 90% of the shooters that gen even when it ended. Halo Reach was an amazing game. Halo 4 is one of the best looking games last gen on any platform. Considering how the franchise is their biggest flagship IP, there’s nothing wrong with it being a graphical showcase. 343i probably feels the same too, otherwise why would the first two trailers look so amazing?

Also opinions on the importance of resolution is not some mystery. Everything makes sense when viewed in context. Comparing two versions of a game, of course native 4K is preferred, for example in the RDR2 comparison. However with the development of techniques like DLSS 2.0 it can’t be denied that native resolution is less important these days.

I agree that it would be nice if it was a graphical show stopper, but it’s not a requirement in order for it to be successful or a great game. Not being a graphical showpiece doesn’t automatically mean it’s doomed or that there’s some sort of gross mismanagement at 343. It’s mildly disappointing at best…imo.

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I think dropping the One support will be a double edged sword. It undermines their messaging about compatibility and consumer approach.

What they SHOULD be doing is applying every effort to fortify and improve the graphical bells and whistles for the Series X/PC version of this game. If that means reducing support for base Xbox One then so be it. I think they can achieve this without completely dropping the other versions. Again, Series X/S should be their absolute focus as it will be th face of the Halo going forward.

They can do it, I have no reservations they have the ability to. They have invested massive amounts into this including a new engine.

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That’s not the same thing, at all. For one, most switch ports are done with games that are already targeting the higher end platforms. Second, many of those switch ports are handled by different teams. By your reasoning, Switch ports won’t slow down at all once next gen becomes the focus and that definitely won’t be the case.

My point is more about the amount of resources that 343i have at their disposal. It would be easier for the team to get the most out of 3 platforms instead of 5. They can try things on next gen systems without the concern if what they are trying could be downported the XBO. Put it this way. If 343i has 30 programmers working on the engine, do you think they can accomplish more by focusing on next gen or accomplish the same if their efforts are split between 5 systems, one with MANY limitations?

Oh yeah totally. I’m not saying the game will be failure if it isn’t. It can still be amazing game even if it’s not. I’m just saying that is what they should be striving for in the end. For better or worse, pretty screenshots and hype around graphics still sells.

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I agree with John, get rid of the Xbox One version.

Not even for the graphics. It will be easier to work with three pieces of hardware rather than five going forward. And Xbox One’s active userbase will shrink considerably by 2021. They might as well cut their losses now and put all of their devs on making this the best it can be for Series X/S, and PC.

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I’d be very annoyed if they dropped the Xbox One version. The game was designed to run on that hardware. It would be a dick move. They can always have future expansions that only run on the higher end hardware if you are worried about supporting the Xbox One well into the future.

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This 100% The message from Microsoft was always play your game wherever you want and the crossgen release of most of the first paty games for 1-2 years.

But it would be a bad move considering the game has been made for the xbox one for the last 5yrs, and theres not much they could do to make the game not be able to scale down to xbox one hardware in a reasonable delay period. Its not what Microsofts strategy is, like call of duty 2020 will be crossgen too for similar reasons.

I thought it was just Turn 10, had no idea that PG was helping out as well.

Thinking about it, maybe 343i needs some big management and perhaps some key developer changes? Not asking for anyone to be fired but back on 2018 I remember there being some rumors of troubled development and many developers quitting 343i, surely Covid was a factor this year but the rumors of troubled development were already there long before Covid. I feel like maybe Halo deserves better if 343i just can’t handle it as they are now.

The reason I say that is because they’ve had 5 years to work on this and a big budget and team and still they may come up short, I hope this delay gives them the time they need to make this a great game but if they fail and this game has a bad critical reception and sales then I think MS won’t be happy with 343i and some huge changes will be made to the studio.

Let’s say HI is another disappointment in the series then i don’t think Fans will trust 343I Again what i have seen from 343I output it’s not just Management Problem it’s whole studio Problem like you said they need huge changes.

I think they should re brand the studio name and name it Halo Team

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I agree with kage here. Drop the Xbox one. Whether it’s a 2 month delay or a 1 year delay.

The biggest factor is the manpower that’s surely being put into getting the game running on Xbox one OG, Xbox one s, and Xbox one x. Those man hours could instead be put into enhancing, polishing, and optimizing the series X,series s versions. Any other perks added for dropping those versions would be the icing on the cake.

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