Response to Microsoft’s Halo Infinite gameplay reveal last Thursday has been mixed. Some players think it’s a throwback to earlier games in the Halo franchise, but others are disappointed that it doesn’t look “next-gen” enough. There’s been a ton of memes being tossed around — including from 343 Industries itself.
But in reality, developer 343 Industries is responding in earnest to fans concerned about the game’s visuals. “Listen, we’re in the middle of a global pandemic,” Microsoft’s Xbox games marketing manager Aaron Greenberg told Inside Gaming on Thursday. “It’s July. We’re far from holiday [launch]. You’re seeing a work-in-progress game.”
In a group Q&A session on Friday, 343 Industries studio head Chris Lee told Polygon and other press that fans should go back and watch the 4K stream to see Halo Infinite in its fuller glory. “I that that really lets our game show itself in full fidelity,” Lee said. “We’re definitely still very much in development. We have some polishing and tuning that the team is working on to really bring the full potential of the experience to our fans later this year.”
Earlier in the session, Lee had that the developer is able to use “more than 10 times the processing power per pixel than we were able to do in Halo 5.” He also added that 343 Industries had “harnessed a lot of advanced rendering techniques, but also the immense power of the Xbox Series X.”
Halo Infinite will be released this holiday season alongside the Xbox Series X. Despite concerns from fans, 343 Industries said it’ll run “at a solid 60 frames per second up to 4K resolution” when it’s released on the next-gen console. The game’s been called a “spiritual reboot,” and that seems to track with how often viewers have noted how much it looks like Halo: Combat Evolved.
