![]() Halo Infinite is no longer at risk of getting lost in the mix it’s the competition who should be worrying. Now it’ll have to share the spotlight with the biggest shooter of the year - one that’s totally free to play and has the element of surprise behind it. Battlefield 2042 was supposed to be the most high-profile game launching this month (especially after tepid Call of Duty: Vanguard reviews), but Halo Infinite just crashed a Warthog full of banana peels on its clear runway. It’s a bombshell move and one that might tick the competition off. And all of that will happen before people start putting together their holiday wish lists. Players will start posting clips all over social media, it’ll dominate Twitch charts, and media will start kicking out impressions way earlier than planned (ourselves included). While the game isn’t fully out (single-player is still coming in December), the conversation around it is now in full swing. Any critical acclaim would come late, making it hard for Microsoft to capitalize heading into the holidays.īy dropping the multiplayer mode early, Microsoft has rewritten the rules. Ultimate when it dropped in mid-December 2018. Similarly, the game would be ineligible for The Game Awards this year and would be considered for the following year’s show instead, much like what happened to Super Smash Bros. While Digital Trends planned to hold our GOTY decision until we played Halo, others likely would have left it out of contention and saved it for their 2022 lists. December releases also tend to miss the Game of the Year season as many sites publish their lists by the end of November. Getting good word of mouth was going to be a challenge, too. ![]() ![]() Even if Halo Infinite got positive buzz at launch, it would be late to the party. Battlefield 2042 and Call of Duty: Vanguard would headline sales events, putting those shooters in the spotlight heading into the holidays. A December date meant that the game wouldn’t be out in time for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, when many people buy holiday gifts or hunt for discounted games. Halo Infinite was set to be its big holiday game, but its planned December 8 release date wasn’t ideal. Un-freakin’ believableīefore the surprise drop, Microsoft was in something of an awkward position. It’s the sneakiest power play a video game company has pulled since Sony’s infamous “$299” mic drop at E3 1995. The series has been renewed for a second season, with no release date announced.The decision to drop Halo Infinite early isn’t just a sweet “thank you” to fans for their support. While it definitely impacted the franchise's standing, opening space for a competitor like Starfield, it wasn't a total flop. While the Halo TV series boasts thrilling action scenes and big-budget special effects, it has yet to live up to its full potential. Its connections to the wider franchise gave it limited appeal outside pre-existing Halo players, and its deviations from the video games' canon alienated hardcore devotees. Critics derided the series as overambitious, derivative, and contrived. And it would only get worse.Ģ022 marked the release of Halo: The Series, intended to be a big draw for the newly launched streaming service Paramount+. Although still active today, Halo Infinite doesn't have the same staying power as Halo entries once did, and by now is just waiting to be replaced by Starfield or a similar title. Infinite was rightfully criticized for its time-wasting battle pass and missing features. ![]() What followed was a six-year gap between major Halo releases, until 2021's Halo Infinite broke the silence. 343, meanwhile, followed up with Halo 5 its multiplayer was seen by many as a return to form, but its single-player campaign was formulaic and didn't scratch the same itch. Bungie moved on to its next project: the co-op space shooter Destiny and its sequel, which is still going strong.
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