Halo Infinite launch stumbled, live service ‘fell short,’ Xbox Games boss says

Halo Infinite is nearly a year old, but the memory of the game’s frustrating launch — and post-launch period — is still fresh in players’ minds. But Halo fans aren’t the only ones let down by Infinite’s release state; in the Friends Per Second podcast, head of Xbox Game Studios Matt Booty spoke candidly about the game’s launch frustrations, and how it’s on Microsoft to do better in the future.

Booty description Halo Infinite’s launch as a “classic runner’s mistake of tripping and stumbling as you come across the finish line.” He blames this failure primarily on the pandemic and how it disrupted the development team, which consists of hundreds of people around the world — all working on Halo Infinite. So while he gives kudos to the team for getting the game out at all in 2021, he knows players are frustrated by what could’ve been.

“Shipping a game is just the beginning,” said Booty. “There’s got to be a plan for content.” Post-launch content is something Halo Infiniteis something that has been a real struggle over the last year. Campaign co-op, split-screen co-op, and the Forge map editor all missed the game’s launch window. The online campaign coop feature was only introduced recently. Halo Infinite, with the studio ultimately canceling the split-screen mode — a staple of the Halo series. Forge launches Tuesday. This will be almost a year in the making. Infinite’s debut.

Forge frustrations and campaign were one thing. Halo InfiniteMultiplayer updates were also few and far between. The game has excellent bones — which landed it high on Polygon’s 2021 Game of the Year list — but without new and exciting content to keep players logging in, it doesn’t stand much of a chance at staying relevant in 2022 and beyond.

But that’s something Booty is hoping to fix. “The burden is on us,” he said. He then outlined some important leadership changes and team moves to make it easier for them to update the game.

Halo InfiniteA disappointing year was to be sure. Booty asserts that Microsoft is determined to fix the ship and has started to do so. Whether 343 Industries can make good on Booty’s promises — and perhaps more important, When they can make good — still remains to be seen.