It seems that separate launch dates for Halo Infinite's campaign and multiplayer components might really be on the table after all, as developer 343 Industries continues to work on the game follow its delay out of the Xbox Series X/S launch window and into 2021. While players may be seeing plenty of Master Chief and Halo iconography in the ads leading up to the next console generation, the legend himself will be absent from the festivities come November. This is due to, among other things, the public gameplay demo shown off earlier this year. Fans seeing what Halo Infinite looked like for the first time thought it looked less than next-gen, causing Microsoft and 343 to delay the title and ensure it was the best it could be.
The campaign is just one half of the experience that comprises Halo Infinite. The arena multiplayer portion of the game is already confirmed to be free-to-play, bringing the Slayer and Capture The Flag fun to everyone who owns an Xbox and a Game Pass subscription. Around the time that Halo Infinite was initially delayed, there were rumors that the game would be split into two releases, with the multiplayer portion coming closer to launch while 343 finalizes the campaign. Those rumors were shot down months ago, but it seems like they're not fully dead, at least according to a recent interview.
Talking with Kotaku about all things Xbox Series X, Xbox head Phil Spencer touched on Halo Infinite's progress now that it's a 2021 game. When asked directly if the game would be split into two releases, Spencer said that it was up to Bonnie Ross and her team at 343 Industries. However, he certainly left the door open to the possibility, saying, "I think we want to make sure people feel like they have a Halo experience. I think we can look at options like that." He expanded that, as long as was done right, the two separate releases is certainly something to think about, which is not the resounding "no" that most franchise fans probably wanted to hear.
Considering that Halo Infinite's multiplayer mode will be available to people who don't choose to grab the full package, a separate release makes sense. Halo would not be stepping into uncharted territory with such a split. In recent times, Call of Duty's Warzone has become a free to play game sperate from the main release, although players can still access it from last year's Modern Warfare and the upcoming Black Ops: Cold War. CD Projekt Red is also choosing to develop Cyberpunk 2077's multiplayer mode separate from its campaign, although it will release significantly later than next month's single-player premiere and a story-focused RPG can hardly be compared to the FPS franchise that defined the modern console multiplayer experience.
Because of Halo Infinite's delay into 2021, players still don't have an idea of what the game's multiplayer component will look like. It's assumed that it will take cues from Halo 5, as its Arena was the best-received portion of that package. Still, there will likely be some changes in the shift to free to play, including opportunities to offer players more purchasable cosmetic doodads and maybe even a battle pass. As long as the game sticks to the intricately paced mid-ranged combat that has defined the best of the Halo series so far, those additions can likely be forgiven.
Halo Infinite will be available for Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and PC in 2021.
Source: Kotaku