In addition to serving as a major first-party launch title for the upcoming Xbox Series X, Halo Infinite will mark the beginning of developer 343 Industries' 10-year plan for the future of the franchise. Gameplay footage for the newest installment in Microsoft's premiere sci-fi FPS series was finally shown off at the Xbox Games Showcase earlier today, revealing new features like an open-world map and a handy grappling hook for Master Chief to zip along the battlefield with.
Set after the events of Halo 5: Guardians and billed as the third chapter of 343’s “Reclaimer Saga,” Halo: Infinite will pit the legendary Spartan John-117 and a new pilot sidekick against the Banished, a splinter faction of the Covenant that was first seen in 2017's Halo Wars 2. Halo Franchise Director Frank O'Connor has promised that Infinite’s storyline will have a greater focus on Master Chief than Halo 5 did, and studio director Chris Lee has billed the game as a “spiritual reboot” of the long-running Halo series.
That wasn’t the only thing Chris Lee had to say about Halo Infinite, as according to PC Gamer he revealed that it will set the tone for the next 10 years of the Halo franchise, both in the story being told and how the games themselves will be marketed. “We want Infinite to grow over time, versus going to those numbered titles and having all that segmentation that we had before,” he said in an interview with IGN shortly after the Xbox Games Showcase. “It’s really about creating Halo Infinite as the start of the next ten years for Halo and then building that as we go with our fans and community.”
Halo Infinite was announced for what was then known as “Project Scarlett” back in 2018 and has been in development for a good five years. In the interim, the Halo franchise has reached a new audience thanks to the gradual release of The Master Chief Collection on Steam, which will allow players who don’t own an Xbox console to play all of the series’ installments up to 2012’s Halo 4 on their PCs – once the games finish releasing on the platform. As for Infinite itself, many aspects of the game’s setting and plot have been leaked piecemeal over the past few months, such as the reveal of the game’s Halo: Combat Evolved-inspired box art yesterday.
Given how successful and prevalent the Halo franchise has been to Xbox over the past decade, it makes sense for 343 Industries to want to play the long game when it comes to both Halo Infinite and future installments. While some fans have noted that today’s gameplay footage borrows heavily from past games like Halo 3, there are still new elements to keep the series fresh, and Infinite’s plot will likely pave the way for new storylines in the Halo games to come. Players will be able to catch a glimpse of this new plan Chris Lee speaks of when Halo Infinite is released alongside the Xbox Series X later this year.
Halo Infinite is set to arrive for PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X in Holiday 2020.