So from what I’m reading season 1 is in fact still a beta. The entire experience up until this point IS a beta. This means there should be some major changes when it comes out of beta.
However there are a few problems.
The multiplayer isn’t listed as a beta on the cover of the game and the details. Not on the PC or Xbox. There is no title that officially says this is a beta.
343 have not been making it clear that it is a beta. I bet a lot of the concerns would cool down had they come out every so often and said " hey guys, this is still in beta. Expect bugs, etc."
The two things above lead people to believe that this is a full release. And to me? Yes. It does look like a full release. Why would you have a store in a beta?
Either way. Season 2 might surprise us. We might be getting a lot more than what they were talking about.
And we might not. I’m leaning towards the latter but the fact that the multiplayer is still technically in beta you can say that they haven’t dealt all their cards yet.
A final note. They way they released this “beta” is horrible. They way they released period is horrible. The communication is also horrible. The latter is a lot of the games downfall right now. Simply not knowing is what makes people drop the game. At some point when forge comes people will be to Burnt out to even play with it because of how 343 treats it’s fans.
Ive played more stable and feature rich alpha’s to be honest.
This game needs to burn. Microsoft needs to pass the franchise to literally any other studio and have them take a punt at it.
They should keep the 343 staff on though… imagine the chaos that would ensue if they got employed else where.
What would happen if 343 devs ended up working on tesla’s auto drive or worse, making software for medical devices like pacemakers or those new insulin auto injectors.
Say what you will about Microsoft, the biggest gift they could ever give is keeping 343 devs from working in industries where software faults could lead to deaths.
Where are you reading that it’s still beta? (I’d like to read it too).
It doesn’t say beta on the game which means it’s not in beta any more. The fact the designation has been removed is the clear messaging.
It’s not like there’s some sort of software industry standard for what’s considered a beta product. The company just decides when they consider it to be a full release - and that’s what it appears that 343 considers it to be (whether we agree with them or not).
The only mention of ‘beta’ in that article/link is a pull quote from an article published in November, and if you try to follow the link in the article there’s a 404.
There is always Hope.
Pandora gave us that when the box was unsealed.
Hope is what drives us.
But Hope is still fleeting.
Spartans… dress in your armor and grab your MA5s.
For when hope is lost, we must reclaim what was taken from us and restore it to its rightful glory.
This link works. Seems the Eurogamer server doesn’t like the forward slash gfinity used at the end of the URL: https://www.gfinityesports.com/halo-infinite/more-time-needed-before-sharing-update-plans
Staten also spoke with Eurogamer last November, confirming they’ll be implementing co-op by Season 2 and Forge in Season 3. He said:
“Yes, we are extending Season 1. So our goal still remains what I said before, which is to ship campaign co-op with Season 2 and Forge with Season 3. But those remain goals. Those remain targets. And we can’t commit to any hard dates right now, because as we’re seeing with this multiplayer beta, other things might move up in the priority stack for us.”
Like all live service games, Halo Infinite is early access disguised as a pro-consumer opportunity. There’s no need to say, “from what I’m reading season 1 is in fact still a beta” as it was never going to be anything else.
I mean, the game factually isn’t in beta simply because the “beta” descriptor is entirely arbitrary and they’ve not been using it, so it isn’t, simple as that. They said it was full release, so it was full release, and broken on release as a result.
I’ve been saying this the whole time though. The game effectively launched in early access and should have been labelled as such from day one. If they’re finally acknowledging this, great, maybe that means they’ll seriously take a look at the incomplete product they launched and make a serious effort to complete it this time.
They need to get a hold of themselves though. Each consecutive 343 halo game is less complete and more broken than the last. That’s a terrible track record for a company that’s having more and more resources, and more and more development time being pumped in to it. If I was their boss they’d be in serious trouble, and I mean that as a programmer, not just as a halo fan.
As much as I also consider it a beta (or early access) the game is really just undercooked. 343i needed more time to work on the game and now they’re getting it in the form of post-release updates.
If you’re not content with the state of the game but still want to play it then I recommend taking a break from it for a few months. Water takes a while to boil, Rome wasn’t built in a day, and 343i has given us an estimate of May 2022 for when they’re releasing a big update. Think of it as them delaying the game by several months but they also decided to release what they had. 343i has not at all been deceitful about the campaign (though I could complain I can give them credit for that) and the PvP is free.
The problem with this is that reportedly the 343 devs didn’t do most of the work on the game, that was essentially outsourced by hiring numerous contractors who did their work and promptly left with a fat wallet.
They’re probably as frustrated as we are. I’ve been in a similar situation in my job over the years, where I have the necessary skills to undertake a piece of work, but the bosses have decided to get someone in on a fixed term contract for that specific job, and I’ve then spent twice as long as they spent on the work in the first place fixing the problems they created.
The 343 devs are the ones trying to salvage this thing, so give them some slack, and aim your disdain at the higher ups who let this all happen in the first place.