Donāt agree with Alex on the development claims but he does make a good point on the TV show.
Halo 3 could have looked better than it did. Maybe not Halo 4 level but even then there were trade offs. Itās nonsense that a game canāt look next gen 2 years into a generation, especially when other games looked amazing from day one. Bungie just had different priorities and excellent human models a higher native resolutions werenāt included on that list.
Without the XBO version, there wonāt be a xcloud version. Xcloud servers are Xbox One S hardware. Xcloud support is probably one of the main reasons current gen hasnāt been dropped. Would I prefer they only focus on next gen? Yeah a part of me wishes they would, but thatās mostly so the developers had an easier time with the rest of development. Even if that happened, we wouldnāt be getting a proper next gen Halo. That probably wonāt come until they refresh the game or realize committing to a 10 year plan is a mistake and create a proper sequel.
Really what they need to do is truly iron out the bottlenecks. Outsourcing is standard in this industry, pretty much every studio does it. However there have been too many reports on their reliance on outsource work. This was less efficient in the best of times, I canāt imagine it does wonders for efficiency during these COVID times. They need to figure out what is causing these inefficiencies in their pipeline and make that a focus. I know they have spent years on their engine but have the tools evolved to the same level? Did the changes to their engine, and potential number of different hands working on it, make it a Frankenstein engine thatās difficult to get results? I know they call it a new engine, but Iād bet my last dollar itās still heavily based on the BLAM! engine. This engine has a long history of being rather inefficient with asset creation. Bungie talked about it and made that a focus for Destiny 2. So I wonder if 343i are running into similar issues. Either way, more time will do them good. I just hope they make efforts to fix what got them here and no, Iām not talking about Phil firing anyone.
Regarding the TV show. There is absolutely no reason to cancel it.
He responds to the MP shipping separately but I wish we knew more about them outsourcing so much, why they have lost so many creative directors, and whether or not the engine is as much of a mess as weāve read. Those are probably the points he canāt touch on though.
The issues with this report:
- We know it was playable before E3 2019, multiple times separate 343 employees have talked about studio multiplayer play sessions including Phil before then
- We know only Kiki and her transmedia team are involved in the show (plus Frank OāConnor)
- The show was deep into filming in December, while also supposedly being mostly left up to Showtime to develop under Kiki and Franks supervision
- Philās quote doesnāt lead any verification to Bradās report like he says it does, as Phil only talks about very recent conversations (last couple of weeks)
- The idea that Campaign was going to ship first and multiplayer later has been debunked by Sketch (and Jason as far as he knows)
- The conversation was only about shipping Multi first according to Sketch
- We know 343 built the E3 2018 trailer themselves, they even did a deep dive into the development process and engine development to make it (so the E3 2019 trailer being outsourced seems like a strange claim)
- The other claims about outsourcing donāt seem unusual for modern development, we have even known about who 343 is co-developing with for years (SkyBox Labs and SperaSoft)
So all in all letās wait till release i assume a community update tomorrow that hopefully addresses this more
I know about the X-Cloud servers using the current hardware but in 2021, they will replace the blades with Xbox Series X which means that by the time Halo Infinite releases, they could easily stream the Series X version of the game using X-Cloud to Xbox One, including the 2013 model via Game Pass Ultimate. Before the delay, understandable as to why they wouldnāt cancel the Xbox One version but now, they should.
Iām not expecting 343 to redo the game or all of a sudden make it look like a proper gen Halo game but I would expect them to drop the Xbox One version in order to lessen the workload because regardless of how the game turns out, they currently have PC and 5 different consoles that need to go through QA, polishing, fine tuning and optimization. Thatās just insane to me because itās too much and because of the delay, is completely unnecessary in my opinion. Keeping those three extra versions serves no purpose at this point.
I know outsourcing is normal and natural but 343 seems to have way too much of it to where it could end up hurting the final product which you could say, it already has. I would prefer them to keep everything in house as much as possible because having all these external sources is just going to make things worse. Engine wise, I thought they were using Unreal Engine 4 and then created the SlipSpace Enginge from the ground up for next gen and 343 had issues porting the game from UE4 to SS which makes sense. Canāt expect things to run smoothly going from one engine to another in mid-development.
I do think that Phil needs to very strongly analyze those in charge of 343 and what the priorities are for the studio. Especially this year now, it seems like the entire studio is being stretched extremely thin, they have to deal with a TV show and then have marketing for two years push the game as a launch title which does nothing but put extra unwarranted and unneeded stress on the team developing the game.
If the TV show doesnāt get cancelled, fine but it 100% needs to be put on hold if itās interfering with Bonnie Ross running the studio and it being anything less than all hands on deck for Halo Infinite. The game itself needs to not only be the top priority but the only priority. Anything less at this point is unacceptable.
Iām not even a Halo fan, have never played any of them and even im pissed off because I saw and read about all this stuff too many times in the last 7 years and at some point, enough is enough. This isnāt some minor nothing game, this is the franchise of Xbox and if the franchise is treated like itās nothing, then how can anyone expect the lesser games because compared to Halo, they are the lesser games to have confidence in those other development studios and games if the main one is having issues?
Microsoft/Spencer/343 if anything have what could be called a blessing in disguise. By delaying the game a year and yes, it must be a full year because rushing it out in 6 months tells me, why did you even bother delaying it in the first place? Anyway, by delaying it a full year, they can have Halo Infinite release in November 2021 with the game fully intact and complete with Ray Tracing to line up with their 20th Anniversary of the franchise. They can have custom Series X/Series X bundles and Xbox brand will get a boost next Holiday season where as for launch, they donāt need it because both models will sell out regardless.
They all have a second chance and as someone whoās now watched the trailer 7 times because I donāt know what exactly it is but damn, the trailer clicked with me and I want to play the game but at the same time, I like everyone else want to play an excellent game. They have a second opportunity and im just hoping they donāt screw it up yet again.
Yeah I didnāt care for the original article. Wasnāt anything there. If you are going to write something like that, at least have a little bit more. Basically external devs can be hard to work with and covid sucks. I mentioned in the comments of that article that I expected better from that site. They deleted my comment. Oh well.
In terms of gaming stuff. Brad is good with Hardware and Services leaks. Other stuff, ehhh not so much. He is a Microsoft Tech writer and when anyalsis and deciphering any info he gets that actually closely revolves around more gaming stuff like development and games themselvesā¦ He gets a little lost.
Iām sure there have been troubles on the new Halo. But what I read just felt like any big budget game being developed during this time scheduled for new hardware that isnāt out yet. Just felt more sky is falling exaggeration based on very little detail. Gotta have more to write something like that imo.
Precisely. Sensationalism is what drives journalism (much more than previously) and social networks as well.
Itās likely they are targeting a launch by April to make it within their fiscal year. So itās unlikely that the xcloud servers will be upgraded by the time the game is out.
They donāt need to cancel current gen versions. Something that will improve performance for current gen hardware can benefit next gen hardware as well. The PC version has a dedicated team within 343i. I get wanting to make the situation easier for the team, and I donāt disagree with that, but the more I think about it, the backlash may not be worth canceling the current gen versions.
They donāt need to cancel or put the show on hold. Bonnie has Kiki and Frankie to supervise over the show. Itās not like she needs to really focus on the show other than updates from people on her team working on the show.
April? Oh jeez. SMH.
If that happens and thereās no Ray Tracing, then my goodness. Itās almost like they want to rush the delay. lol.
I would give 343 a full year so there would be no backlash for cancelling the Xbox One version because by then, the Series X version will be able to be streamed to Xbox One so if anything, Xbox One owners would get the Series X version without having to buy the console.
I just donāt want the TV show or any other aspect to interfere with the actual game. Halo Infinite itself needs to be the priority no matter what.
Iām hoping it turns out excellent and I would give them 12-15 months of extra development time. No way would I release the game before November 2021. Theyāve already spent a fortune so whatās a little more? If they screw up the launch and the game itself, it will cost them a lot more in the short term and the long term.
I could be wrong but I donāt see them delaying it another year. Iād be OK with a year delay but they likely already have a fall 2021 major title planned and wouldnāt want the two games to cannibalize each other in sales.
Also I think thereās a good chance weāll see RT support day one now. Unless they mentioned a RT patch to counter criticism about the graphics, I donāt think there was a point in mentioning the patch unless weād see it sooner than later had the game launched this year.
Speaking about the delay, I donāt think the release will be so far, I lean more for a couple of months (in quarter 2 of 2021)
The marketing team is counting with their work even after the delay and thatās give a sign for the new release date wonāt be so far & the developers already put a target date.
Nah keep this game in oven until itās ready also this Phil Fault he should find another big game for the marketing team.
I remember people saying halo is fine alone or one AAA game is enough for XSX launch now look the situation we are in
I honestly donāt know why they WOULDNāT delay Halo Infinite to November 2021 -
- 20th Anniversary
- Ray Tracing 100% in the game (no update/patch)
- Would boost Xbox Series X/Series S for the Holidays
- Would have Custom Halo Infinite Consoles and Controllers
- Would allow Xbox One users to stream the best version of the game day one
I donāt see any first party title being ready for Fall 2021, I see them all as 2022 or later. I would have said Forza Motorsport but Phil did say it was early in development and that tells me itās 2 years away minimum. Maybe Forza Horizon 5 but that could release in itās normal late September spot and wouldnāt impact Halo Infinite at all since itās two different genres.
I definitely hope that Ray Tracing is in the game when it releases because to delay the game six months for example and it still be post launch, im sorry but that would be completely unacceptable in my opinion not to mention the fact that it would be nonsensical and in a way defeat the purpose of the delay in the first place because at that point, could have just released the game as is and like the majority of live service games, fix it along the way.
Iām for the game being released when itās ready, not for arbitrary dates to push holiday sales or to score nostalgia points. If the game is great it will push the sales for the life of the console. If it genuinely takes until Holiday 2021 to finish, then cool, whatever. If itās done in March, then release it! I just donāt see how a game planned for November 2020 just a few weeks ago could be an entire year away from release. I also donāt see why ray tracing couldnāt be in in May, but I donāt know, just like none of us know, where the game is at right now.
Given the pandemic situation and scale/complexity of the game, I donāt see the delay as some grand indictment on 343s management. If there was no pandemic, I could see the questions being asked.
Yea dealer said while back before june so weāll see what happens
Highly doubt this game hits the streets before Fall 2021. Iād be very surprised if it did release Spring 2021 but either way I think we need to just leave this game alone. Itās already been delayed, all these extra reports imo are pointless. Regardless of the tv show, internal problems, or whatever is causing the development issues the game is still delayed so who cares. 343 will bless us when its time until then I think itās time to shift focus
Sounds like you didnāt even read the twitter thread. It addresses TV show you are claiming is a distraction.
Also what would removing xbox one version do exactly except lose millions of sales? Game is already finished and is being polished.
If you followed what was going on you would of seen that they had to switch engines after quite a bit of time in development. Other issue at 343 is COVID and Phil going there into each developers house is not going to get rid of it.
Honestly this just seems like concern trolling.
I have already addressed all this in other posts due to the conversation I had with Kage.
Poor ske7ch has to deal with all of this nonsense. Must be hard for the people working their asses off for 5 years and have to deal with such claims. If you donāt like what they show its one thing and probably hard enough. But this whole āwho to blameā stuff needs to end. It looks like a super ambitious game and most games of this size take 5+ years these days.