Halo Infinite – E3 2018 and the Uncertain Future of Halo

So, you’ve probably seen the Halo Infinite teaser from the Microsoft E3 2018 conference by now, but if you haven’t, here it is…

After 3 years of Halo 5 we get a teaser trailer for the next Halo game titled Halo Infinite (which will technically be Halo 6).

To say “disappointing” is a bit of an understatement – That’s not to say I have an issue with 343 Industries taking the extra time to make Halo Infinite the best game it can be; my issue is that all we know about the next game is that it will be powered by the ‘Slipspace’ engine when every previous Halo game has been released on a 3 year cycle and we have nothing else to look forward to…

The teaser focused mostly on the engine itself showing off lighting, foliage, fauna, particle effects and shadows – and then giving us a few clues that this was in fact a Halo game.

Looks great… I guess, but I really don’t care about every grain of sand having it’s own dynamic shadows, I care about the game itself and mostly the multiplayer.

My concern is: What the hell do Halo players have to look forward to in the near future?

A new engine? Ok, great, but what about the future of Halo eSports?
What about the update for Halo: The Master Chief Collection?
How about some new content for Halo 5? (And by new content I mean maps, not a Hawaiian pizza skin for my Assault Rifle.)
What about Halo 5 on PC with the campaign and match making?
What about Halo MCC for PC?

I honestly sat through the entire Microsoft conference expecting 343 Industries to take the stage at some point and give us something for Halo players on the horizon. I was shocked when it ended and all we got was an engine teaser.

Right now the future of Halo is Halo Infinite, which is likely a late 2019 or 2020 release and… A patch for MCC that MIGHT finally fix the game, but even if it does, how does 343i plan on bringing back a sustainable population to the game?

A fixed MCC would be awesome, but at this point it’s too little too late and a patch – even if it makes the game perfect isn’t going to undo the damage that MCC has done to consumer faith in the franchise. A fixed game is useless without players to actually play with, especially in low population areas like Australia where running into another Aussie player in match making is a miraculous event.

Right now Halo has no momentum. Halo 5 is about to turn 3 years old and hasn’t had a new official map since the Anvil’s Legacy content update in September 2016. Almost 2 years have gone by without new maps – which would be forgivable if Halo 6 was coming out at the end of this year, but it’s not. The game STILL doesn’t have a single developer made map for Big Team Battle.

Is this seriously how Microsoft is going to treat their flagship franchise?

Halo is pretty much the only reason to own an Xbox right now and I’m not even sure if I believe that anymore.

Imagine 343 Industries taking the stage this year and announcing that PC gamers could finally play through the entire Halo series in MCC for Windows 10. Imagine if they had announced a new HCS for PC gamers. They’ve already put Halo 5: Forge on PC, they’re already 90% of the way there!

A new engine isn’t going to repair the Halo community when the Halo 5 servers turn into ghost towns. We need new content NOW. Microsoft and 343 Industries need to keep gamers interested in Halo.

The best way to bring back excitement would be to release both Halo 5 and MCC on PC and get big names on Twitch streaming it. A bunch of new maps would breathe new life into the HCS. A collection of official remakes of BTB classics like Blood Gulch and Terminal would bring casual players back to the game.

Instead, we’re expected to play the same maps in Halo 5 for the next year or two?! The thrusters have burnt out and Halo is eventually going to come crashing to the ground.

Leave a Reply