Halo Infinite developer 343 Industries have offered some insight into what they’re working on, including a new release date.
Halo Infinite has had a rocky start to life, to say the least. Following the fateful July gameplay demo, it was announced that the game would be delayed to 2021. Later, we learned that the project had moved onto its third creative director.
343 Industries has now offered some insight into their current development focus, perhaps hoping to restore some much needed enthusiasm for Halo Infinite.
Regardless of their motive, we’re happy to learn that development seems to be heading in a positive direction. First, the Halo Infinite is now set for launch in “fall 2021“, or sometime after mid-September for those of us down under.
Current creative director Joseph Statin states that this release date will help by “giving the team time to recharge over the Holidays, and then coming back in January to finish the game at a healthy pace.”
One of the key areas in which Halo Infinite is improving is its visuals, which were widely panned following the release of the aforementioned July gameplay demo. The team’s graphics artists report that they’ve been ironing out some of the bugs that were present in the demo, and have continued progress on the game’s GPU-driven rendering, variable-rate shading, and dynamic lighting.
They also directly address ‘Craig’, the brute who became an instant meme after a close-up screenshot of his face was pulled from the gameplay demo. It seems brute faces will be getting significant updates, with new facial animations, and features such as hair and beards – all of which will go a long way towards making enemies like Craig a lot more lively.
343 Industries go on to emphasise their commitment to maintaining a pro-consumer approach to development, stating that they will continue to listen and respond to the community. They also state that they are upholding a “player-first focus“, which includes making a game that audiences can engage with in a healthy manner, by avoiding things like grindy, repetitive tasks.
It sounds like the developers are certainly working to address the core criticisms that the community has levelled at Halo Infinite and are aiming to produce a title that’s worthy of the juggernaut franchise.
If you’re interested, feel free to check out the full release. To see where development is progressing from, it’s worth another look at that gameplay demo below.
