Joining the ranks of other games that have announced delays today, 343 Industries has released a statement on their Halo Waypoint site, indicating that the highly anticipated sequel is being delayed until sometime in 2021.
Halo Infinite Development Update pic.twitter.com/TFZvXhRN9f
— Halo (@Halo) August 11, 2020
The statement, from studio head Chris Lee, reads as follows:
Today I want to share an important Halo Infinite development update with the community. We have made the difficult decision to shift our release to 2021 to ensure the team has adequate time to deliver a Halo game experience that meets our vision.
The decision to shift our release is the result of multiple factors that have contributed to development challenges, including the ongoing COVID-related impacts affecting us all this year. I want to acknowledge the hard work from our team at 343 Industries, who have remained committed to making a great game and finding solutions to development challenges. However, it is not sustainable for the well-being of our team or the overall success of the game to ship it this holiday.
We know this will be disappointing to many of you and we all share in that sentiment. The passion and support the community has shown over the years has been incredible and inspiring. We wanted nothing more than to play our game with the community this holiday. The extra time will let us finish the critical work necessary to deliver the most ambitious Halo game ever at the quality we know our fans expect.
Thank you for your support and understanding.
In the wake of this announcement, Microsoft seems poised to be carrying on with their plans for Xbox Series X without Halo Infinite.
On the Xbox blog, Xbox Wire Editor-In-Chief Will Tuttle laid out what’s still going to be available despite the delay, as well as narrowing the new console’s launch window to sometime in November.
