This is a lengthy post but please read; it’s very important for all of us Halo fans. I’ve been reading several news articles and watching several videos on how an Infinite beta (flight) may not happen after all. Personally that’s a huge disappointment and I seriously urge 343 to please reconsider. We need the hope that they wanted to deliver.
To quote Bonnie Ross, one of the higher-ups at 343 and corporate Vice President at Xbox Game Studios, “Going forward, you will never see a Halo game coming out without a beta. [Master Chief Collection] was obviously painful for our fans and for us. But it won’t happen again.” Source #1 was originally published by IGN in June 2015. Now, I do understand that no one could have predicted the COVID-19 global pandemic which has wreaked havoc across the world and has affected millions of people. However, Infinite has been in development for about 5 years (source #2). There should have been a public beta before this situation happened in order to gather a sizeable amount of player feedback. The earlier they would have gathered this feedback, they could have made more changes before the very controversial Infinite campaign gameplay demo that was shown to us (my opinion anyway). I have now taken into account that the demo showed to us was, well, just a demo.
But the hope that 343 attempted to deliver, has all but nearly vanished (at least for me). To add insult to injury, Chris Lee (head of 343), said in an interview that plans for a public beta are being scaled back but was going to explore some other alternate options (source #3). I will give them credit when it’s due: they are at least trying to resolve some things before launch. As we all know, MCC was pretty much a disaster at the beginning but over the years, updates have steadily been arriving in an attempt to fix the game. While there are still some bugs present, this current MCC version is much better than the old one. They’ve been offering public flights for PC versions of the other MCC games before they’re officially added. They’re also bringing back split-screen, creating an open-world environment, and overall are trying out new things in order to stay relevant. They also are honest to admitting their mistakes. Per Bonnie Ross, “Honestly, we have made mistakes along the way. The community has helped us by creating good learning experiences for us. But I think that when I look at Halo, the universe is the most important character and we are stewards of the universe. And if we’re going to keep the universe alive and healthy I think that we have to ensure that we are doing right by Halo.” (source #4).
There are valid criticisms to be made here though. The point of a business is to sell a good and/or service to generate a profit. Microsoft is a multi-billion dollar company (source #5), with 343 backed by Microsoft and Infinite’s budget rumored to be around a whopping $500 million USD (source #6). That’s obviously a large amount of money, and for a hyped-up next-gen title for a next-gen console, I was sincerely expecting more in terms of graphic fidelity. Yes, I know it was just a demo but again, the point of a business is to sell a good/service. How can you sell that when it’s delivering a lackluster product?
Another valid criticism is actually 343 itself. In an interview with Josh Holmes (executive producer) before Halo 4, “For Halo 4, he says there were a few epiphany moments that helped boost the morale of the team. One of the earlier ones that Holmes recalls was when the team completed a small piece of the Halo experience that he described as a “very traditional” Halo. User research showed that people thought it was a lot of fun, and it showed that the team was capable of making a Halo game that was true to what the series was about. 343 scrapped it, Holmes says, as it was too traditional. But that first build showed the new team that this amalgamation of different studio cultures could work together and achieve a common goal.” (source #7).
I’m just simply wanting a good, solid Infinite. I really urge that 343 give us a public beta before the launch date so we can provide further feedback and have adjustments made. I’ve been playing the Halo series for nearly 2/3’s of my life, I’ve spent God-knows-how-much on Halo merchandise in nearly 20 years, I attended the Outpost Discovery event in Chicago, I own the highest editions of all the games, own/read some of the books (I admit not all of them), and…well, I grew up with the series as part of my childhood. To quote Sergeant Johnson, “Folks need heroes Chief, give 'em hope.”