Head of Xbox Phil Spencer knows that the Halo series will survive even if Halo Infinite flops. Last week, Spencer reaffirmed that Halo Infinite will have a holiday 2021 release, following repeated previous delays. The long-awaited shooter has had numerous issues ever since the notorious first delay, which prevented it from serving as a critical launch title for the Xbox Series X/S.

With the reaffirmed release window getting closer and closer, Halo Infinite is getting more and more coverage, from interviews with different members of the dev team, to multiplayer season announcements. Xbox and Halo Infinite have been scrutinized a bit more than normal due to the mixed reception of Halo 5: Guardians. While many fans and critics alike enjoyed Halo 5: Guardians for its multiplayer and overall gameplay, others took issue with the campaign and some of the AI.

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In an interview with IGN (courtesy of GameSpot), Phil Spencer says that, despite this, there is no pressure on the team. Specifically, Spencer says, "Halo will be here 10 years from now. Is Infinite the lynchpin for whether or not it survives that long? Absolutely not. The game has such a rabid fanbase and such a history and lore that it's just an IP that's going to be with us." For those thinking that this sounds like Spencer is taking the Halo fanbase for granted, he explicitly says that this is not the case. Instead, Spencer says that he does not want to put any extra pressure on his team, placing them, "in a position where they feel like, 'Hey, this one's gotta land or who knows,'" Outside of being good for health and workplace morale, the pressure-free environment could be what allows 343 Industries to make tweaks to Big Team Battle and come up with creative new cosmetics for Spartans.

Halo as a franchise has been running for 20 years, and has featured main-series games, spinoffs, books, and even an upcoming TV show, so it makes sense that Spencer doesn't think that one underwhelming title will derail all of that. Even though there have been plenty of prominent media franchises which have been derailed by underwhelming entries, such as the notoriously hated final season of Game of Thrones, Halo is an integral part of the history of the gaming industry, and it will likely take more than one bad game to undermine its rich legacy.

Back in February, it was reported that Xbox is planning a spin-off title after Halo Infinite, which speaks to the idea that, regardless of how well or poorly Halo Infinite performs, Xbox and 343 Industries will keep the series chugging along. Now, whether or not the series looks the same afterward is a different conversation. The main point of Phil Spencer's message, however, seems to be that he is not going to put pressure on the team at Xbox, because the Halo series will continue, one way or another.

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Source: IGN/YouTube, GameSpot