Additional Story Content Could Have Saved Halo Infinite

Reported changes at 343 Industries may result in the end of story content for Halo Infinite, which could have been its final saving grace.

[Jin_Sakai]

The only saving grace was to gut 343i and breathe new life into the franchise. We shall see where Halo goes from here.

[Godmars290]

With the studio in charge of it gutted?

They were doing bad enough with a full staff that by all counts hated the franchise. Wanted to make it COD. If MS doesn't refill it with people who know what they're doing, like the setting, what do you think the result will be?

[DarXyde]

Gut 343i in what way? People losing their jobs?

C'mon, mate. A lot of those people have no power and just do what is asked of them. I don't think that's fair.

My understanding is that much of the work was outsourced anyway.

And again, I've said this before, but maybe FPS isn't their thing, let alone the fact that it is a game set in a universe they didn't create with very high expectations. Microsoft needs to let them do something else and see how they manage.

[Godmars290]

Then what was the point of 343 if most of what was done with Halo Infinite was outsourced?

What even was the point in making 343 if their only propose was to make Halo games and continue the franchise?

[Jin_Sakai]

“Gut 343i in what way? People losing their jobs?”

If they can’t do their jobs then yes. It sucks but that’s what they were set out to do and they failed over and over again.

[Profchaos]

I didn't hear much about outsourced however they did hire a lot of contractors which indicates two things.

1 they didn't have the right skills in house.

2 contractors are expensive they are typically specialists you call in to help where you can't figure out a problem so 1 contractor working in the short term can cost as much as 3 full time employees do per year.

To be clear I'm not mad at them for hiring contractors I think that's the smart move just they should have also liked at bringing the right skills in house to

[DarXyde]

Godmars290,

The studio was created with that premise in mind and is the namesake of the studio. But that being said, any studio can make any game, it's about the talent within. Maybe it's just me, but I really hate the idea of these people losing their jobs because the collective studio is getting grief for mismanagement. Maybe you need better leadership. Maybe there needs to be a healthier exchange of ideas. You can change management or you can ask these folks to be reassigned to another studio and restaff 343i, maybe with any Bungie alumni not under retainment per the Sony acquisition interested in joining to get things back in order. If the studio itself is meant to be the Halo studio, then let that be with competent leadership who can bring in everyone's ideas and make it work.

Jin_Sakai,

"If they can’t do their jobs then yes. It sucks but that’s what they were set out to do and they failed over and over again."

This is the problem I have with this line of thinking. You're already willing to imply Halo has been bad because they can't do their jobs, but who is 'they'? Is it the actual employees? My understanding is they've been able to handle everything as needed. Is Infinite a glitchy mess? Is it poorly made? Or is this someone at the top, telling everyone else how this is going to go with limited hands on the actual development process getting regular workers into trouble?

This is a systemic issue with Microsoft and their studios. Notice, the best games they've been making are games that were already being made prior to being acquired. I don't think it's the regular worker at all. They have poor, soulless management, and they're catching heat because it's Halo and expectations are high.

Don't agree.

[XBManiac]

Most of the work with Halo Infinite was outsourced... Gut 343i? Maybe everybody with some kind of responsability... from low to high (uncle Phil included?).

[neutralgamer1992]

Or initially launching the game with quality content could have helped it a lot more. If Activision deal goes through then maybe Ms can have one of the COD studios develop next halo

I believe they over played their hand with Bungie and should have acquired them. That number may seem big 3.6 billion but the breakdown is more like 1.6-1.8 to acquire and rest of the money went towards retaining the talent for next decade or so

And I still believe that if Activision deal is done Ms wouldn't care much about halo. They will have COD and overwatch

The days of gears and halo being a meme for Xbox are done and we will see Ms move away from these franchises and give them the cooking off period they need. Maybe have the next geare and halo ready for launch of next Xbox

[1Victor]

A lot of things could had save halo infinite but what can really save it is time, time to cooldown, time to find a better suited team, time to change grime the same old same old pew pew pew at the “bad guy” , perhaps a change of view point can greatly benefit the franchise and refresh it, imagine starting the story with a “bad guy” as the main and having to fight master chief as the big boss loose survive and comeback for the sequel beat him and on the 3rd game return to master chief view and finish the fight winning and “saving the universe “. I can’t play FPS but that’s a good way to refresh it and give a story worth getting behind, they could go the easy route too by just making more OSTD titles or invoke the classic time travel plot 🤦🏿

[EvertonFC]

Imo Halo is dead, it was a popular franchise during the 360 era, the small hardcore halo fans left is not enough to breath new life into a new generation of gamer who prefers games like Fortnite, apex legends etc.
The young casual gamer who doesn't come to gaming websites for news or gaming YouTube channels wouldn't even know what halo is? To wrapped up in f2p, GaaS games.

[BandarHub]

No the game did not give any indication that it was going to have DLC.
Matter of fact...343i or Bungie even have not created a campaign DLC ever. Why did we all of a sudden expect campaign DLC for Halo Infinite?
Halo Infinite does not need saving.
The last update was great, they delivered forge and campaign co-op. The forge maps the community are creating simply breathtaking and that's just them getting used to how it works.
The only issue Halo Infinite has right now is in its multiplayer. And I am not talking about how it plays because it is perfect the way it is.

The main issue is the experience system. They need to completely rework exp is earnt in multiplayer. Earning exp through challenges is but fun.
Second is the lack of a roadmap for the multiplayer and the length of time people have to wait for content to drop.
These are the only 2 issues plaguing Halo infinite.

[Profchaos]

Going back to earlier articles it's clear they never defined what the next 10 years was going to actually contain however there was very strong indications that it was going to be story content.

https://www.pcgamer.com/343...

And yes like most games people love it on release and eventually the new game feeling wears thin and you look at it more critically for me personally I didn't like the campaign I never mixed words around it the open world structure dragged it out and if you removed that the game would have been short but fun.

But that's besides the point 343i layer 9ut a 10nyears roadmap and wanted to do away with sequels but since that point we've seen rumours of the next game being in development and a change of engine so 10 year plan seems unrealistic for any component of the game.

[BandarHub]

"Halo Infinite will seemingly have a self-contained story, and one that Lee claims won't require knowledge doled out in Halo spin-off novels and comics, a problem with both Halo 4 and Halo 5. "This time players will have the freedom to explore the ring, but we are telling a story with a beginning, middle, and end that we want to carry the player through as you go"
Chris Lee said himself said Halo Infinite has a self-contained story...no mention of DLC

The 10-year plan is still there...
For Campaign, It will still use the slipspace engine and continues the Halo Infinite story through a new game.
For Multiplayer, also use the slipspace engine, the game will be supported for the traditional Halo multiplayer.
Basically, the next Halo game is will be like Halo infinite with adjustments to the graphics as it switches the Xbox series X.

A lot of people are getting confused about the engine change...that has more to do with Certain Affinity's Halo game that is using Unreal engine for 'project Tanaka'. There engine change is because Certain Affinity do not have the expertise to use the Slipspace engine. And that rumour has been around since last year.

[4Sh0w]

Agreed, Halo doesn't need saving. The game itself was very good, reviews & the Halo community demonstrate that. Halo Infinite campaign was really cool, the grappling hook added a nice traversal mechanic which was fun. The multiplayer as far as gameplay goes is one the best BUT THE BIG PROBLEM was all the other microtransactions & implementation of earning XP & getting all the extra armor & equipment. Updates & broken promises regarding feedback was seriously lacking like Ive never seen in the past..its very, very competitive in the fps MP space so when issues arent addressed quickly people have alot of options to move on I think thats what hurt the game early on but no it doesn't need saving. The Forge, Co Op, new maps, dropping has been great for Halo fans who still play. Halo is a big name from a company with deep pockets, they will restructure & come back with something great, so yeah far from dead which I can remember a certain crowd has been saying since Halo3.

[a7madRyan]

https://www.ign.com/article... this article said new stories coming

[BandarHub]

For Campaign, It will still use the slipspace engine and continues the Halo Infinite story through a new game.
See how God of war Ragnorok used the same of everything that God of war 2018 has (Artstyle, gameplay mechanic, world design)....basically, that's what it means. The continuation of Halo Infinite story will use the same what Halo Infinite used with obvious changes to the graphics but not drastic that it looks like a different game.
The new Halo game isn't Halo Infinite 2, it is still Halo Infinite but with a different name maybe Halo Infinite: The Endless. Its not going to be DLC instead full-on games will be released for the next 10 years.

[Noskypeno]

There were rumors of more biomes coming in through dlc, like a desert one was coming next.

[Stanjara]

The whole point of getting experience in live service games is to spend it on something, usually on new content, and they have had no meaningful new content... so guess what?

They butchered they experience system to buy more time, and they lost player count.

Tv show didn't help.

Nostalgia train left the station and now... idk... they have to start with single player content again.

[HansyJ]

You should be banned for your abhorrent take lol it took them literally over a year to add co-op to a game that should’ve had it at the very start. Just stop talking.

[Godmars290]

Additional, actual, production time along with story development could have saved it.

[ZeekQuattro]

Halo used to me huge. How Microsoft hobbled a former sales juggernaut is scary. It should of been a easy win.

[TheColbertinator]

That's why Call of Duty is their next project. Instead of having the runners up, Microsoft want the biggest FPS franchise on the market.

[Godmars290]

And what example does ruining the second says what might happen to first once they've bought it?

And by second I mean while Halo helped to build the Xbox brand, COD was right along with it if not before. The excusive content bought along with GTA DLC.

[Elda]

I've been playing the campaign game off & on for the past 11 months, but due to other games that release I never really have the drive to finish it. Guessing the story & gameplay just doesn't hold my attention enough..lol.

[TheColbertinator]

343 hasn't written a good story for Halo ever so it wouldn't matter. Halo has a massive sci-fi world ready for captivating stories but 343 has squandered all the potential there.

[Crows90]

Giving halo IP back to Bungie would be the saving grace

[Orchard]

Would it though? Reach was pretty weak IMO and Destiny isn’t exactly awesome either.

I’d give it to ID software and/or one of the Activision FPS studios if I was Microsoft.

[Crows90]

Except destiny is actually pretty awesome.

But I do agree with you that they should give it to ID software or even arkane. Unfortunately for you MIcrosoft isnt smart enough to do that. Theyve already said theyre keeping it with 343.

[Orchard]

Destiny is average at best, and as of late, they’ve done a terrible job with the live service side of it. It’s down for hours, sometimes days. We’ve had progress resets and everything.

Taking Halo away from an incapable dev to then give it to another incapable dev will improve nothing.

Either rebuild 343 with better leadership (which they’ll need to since half the people are gone), or give it to ID/Activision.

[badz149]

how is giving it to a Sony-owned studio going to save it?

[Crows90]

Im ignoring the fact it was recently purchased but are you really asking me why I think an IP would do well with Sony who has quite the record of successful games?

[Godmars290]

Always found it hard to believe that anything more could be done with the setting as a FPS. An RPG exploring the Covenant as well as Human space, a horror game about a civilian surviving against Covenant scout or a Flood outbreak, scaled down non full on action titles should have been things. Not just revisiting Master Chief.

[CrimsonWing69]

A better game could’ve saved Halo Infinite.

[343_Guilty_Spark]

Halo 5 MP was better and had significantly more weapons, game modes like Warzone and Firefight, a better requisition system, assassinations, better mobility options, and they scrapped it. Also better net-code didn't suffer from desync.

Infinite had a significantly better campaign but its connection to H5 story was flimsy at best. What happened to the Guardians? Cortana?

Not just more but better story content would have helped. Switching to a U5 earlier might have helped. More modes would have helped. Forge at launch would have helped.

[Orchard]

I’m not sure that’s strictly true. Halo is also more a complete package (or should be). Extra SP content alone wouldn’t be enough.

I suspect we’ll see this franchise lay dormant for ~5 years and MS will double down on COD as the Xbox shooter and then it’ll suddenly get a huge reboot by a different MS studio (maybe ID or Activision ones).

[Crows90]

LOL
No buddy. Microsoft isnt Sony...they dont do reboots or successful games. I think youre fantasizing about a God of War scenario with Halo...not gonna happen.

[Orchard]

The problem there is both of those statements are easily proved false.

“they dont do reboots” -> We already know they’re rebooting Perfect Dark

“Or successful games” -> They just released HiFi Rush.

[Crows90]

We already know theyre rebooting Perfect Dark...wait what? Theyre really set on ruining the original experience? How exactly is it a reboot? Is it going to be 3rd person? Top down? Wait are you telling me that youre calling the next perfect dark a reboot simply because they sat their ass on the IP for a very long time? Thats not a reboot. A reboot is something like the tomb raiders...completely different from the originals.

They just released HiFiRush....ummm you mustve missed the article where it is known that they were working on that game before the purchase. So that has nothing to do with Microsoft.

[Orchard]

“ Theyre really set on ruining the original experience”

Have you played it? I didn’t think it was out yet.

“ So that has nothing to do with Microsoft.”

Weird, I thought Microsoft were the owners of Tango Gameworks. I must be wrong - who owns them then?

[SPEAKxTHExTRUTH]

I enjoyed the single player I just think it needed better graphics. It wasn’t as bad as people made it out to be. Yes it’s missing popular modes but still a solid single player experience for me.

[anast]

Just let it go. This is getting macabre.

[zero_jp]

I mean they wanted a Destiny type 10 year plan. But at no point was the game made for that. Where are the co-op dungeons, raids, real open world locations across the Halo universe? They don’t exist that’s where. There was no real plan.

They simply released a barebones game they had eons to make. Some bare bones multiplayer arena modes. A couple of big team battle maps and that’s it.

This isn’t 2005. That type of stuff isn’t going to fly anymore. Good thing they put Infinite on gamepass otherwise it would have sold triple plastic.

This game will remain DOA. There is nothing 343 can do to salvage it at this point as it wasn’t made in the way Destiny was to do the types of things their 10 year non existent plan would have had in it.

[Destiny1080]

any effort at all, could have saved it

[Ninver]

The green power ranger has seen his last days. The man children who grew up playing Halo in basements have all moved on. Nothing will ever recapture the glory days this ip

[Miacosa]

Probably for the best to end the storyline after the disappointment of Halo Infinity to do anything interesting other than basically resetting the table with Chief and Cortana. With Infinity, it seems like the story has finally run its course creatively, and it's time to put it to bed to work on something else. Since the multiplayer will keep going it's no biggie.

[Petebloodyonion]

Another lame Anti MS article with no fluff
Let's see, reducing the staff MAY result in the end-of-story content for HALO.
So again that was the saving grace according to Gamerant a possible Story DLC that nobody heard of.
But you can bet your ass if they had a story DLC in the work, Gamerant would be the first to cry about why do a Single-player DLC when the multiplayer needs to be fixed. and HOW 343 forgot the heart and soul of Halo.

I'm no fan of Halo but I do think that removing the stupid rotation that forces ppl to play mode they don't like needs to go
The stupid daily challenge that makes ppl go challenge hunting instead of playing the game needs to go
and they should communicate a bit more.
Why is it so hard to have these 3 things?

[Pickledpepper]

Halo doesn't work as a full open world.
It should of stuck with the same formula and focused on a good story, Halo 1,2 and 3 did that very well but after that it just seemed to have lost its way.
Ditch the grappling hook!!

[aaronaton]

Split screen local multiplayer and coop would of helped, but I think at this point they should announce the closure of the servers and move on.

[XBManiac]

A better story, better graphics, better animations, better support, better everything could have saved Halo, yes. Now, it is a boomers thing.

[RaiderNation]

I know the mulitplayer crowd will balk at this but IMO the way to save Halo is to reboot it entirely and take the Sony approach by putting a renewed focus on a great single player, story-driven experience like a Bioshock or Elder Scrolls. Of course, keep multiplayer as part of the package but bring someone in who can tell a compelling story with memorable characters and put them in a universe with jaw-dropping set pieces chock full of environmental story telling. I would even be in favor of changing camera perspective from 1st person to 3rd person, or at least be given the option.

[TheGreatGazoo30]

No. The campaign was a 10. The issues Infinite had wee battle pass related and the ability to churn out new multiplayer content. Switching to Unreal I stead of sticking with the Slipstream engine is to make it easier to develop for.

[RaiderNation]

Lmao the campaign was most certainly not a 10.

[AmUnRa]

Noppe....its not the singleplayer content thats the problem...the multiplayer is a big letdown and they did not fixed that....

[jznrpg]

Woulda coulda shoulda .

MS has let Halo decline to the bottom .

MS created 343 .

The story in the mainline games weren’t very good with 343 and MS so now they can just deliver DLC to a dying game and it will fix it ?

They were having problem delivering maps and modes and co/op split screen etc. .

They seemed more focused on MT’s like Pink Cat ears .

MS wanted to make Halo into Fortnite type of money generator and while chasing money they ruined their biggest franchise and I am not surprised one bit.

Just because they release something doesn’t mean they would have done a good job with it .

MS is a buying games/IP company not a creating games/IP company hence them trying to buy more pubs.

Don’t tell me look what they did with HiRush (I hate the way it looks anyway) as that would be a multiplat game if it wasn’t bought out in Zenimax/Bethesda purchase like all the games that came out this and last year were.

[S2Killinit]

Its not really 343. Halo’s time has passed.

[JokerBoy129]

They need to leave Master Chief alone for awhile. Let 343 play with smaller ideas like ODST and Reach and let them learn to earn the mainline franchise back. Let other studios pitch in ideas and projects too. Let someone do a darker toned title like the first Halo was, hell with the Flood I'm surprised we still haven't gotten a horror Halo title yet. Do some other stuff and let people get a break from Master Chief for awhile. Then bring him back with a bang that 343 will have earned enough to do it right.

[MetalNCarnet]

You know what could have saved it? Playing like a Halo game. There hasn't been a Halo since Reach.