Lots of conversation about Microsoft's video game development revolves around how it's seemingly scheduled many of its biggest hits to release many years from now. Big remakes like Fable and Perfect Dark, plus new games like Avowed, probably won't release for two or three years at least. In the meantime, though, there's one big game that Microsoft is counting on for the Xbox Series X's sake. Halo Infinite was supposed to release last year as a launch title for the new console. While it's disappointing to Halo fans that it had to be delayed, the popular sci-fi shooter's return is still a huge draw for the new Xbox.
One really attractive feature of Halo Infinite is its multiplayer, which has always been an important part of Halo's identity. Fans have high hopes for dropping into multiplayer games in teams of Spartans duking it out with both a wide range of classic Halo weapons and new equipment coming to Halo Infinite thanks to the Banished. Although 343 Industries and Microsoft have been quiet about the multiplayer on the whole, they have promised that multiplayer will be free-to-play and will run at 120 FPS. Those are big promises. Now that 343 has set expectations that high, it has to deliver on them, or Halo Infinite is probably going to face a new wave of fan criticism.
Doubling Down on Multiplayer
Halo has a lot of competitors to face right now. Shooters are doing well for themselves, especially shooters with free multiplayer. Games like Valorant and Apex Legends are king, which means that if Halo Infinite charged extra for multiplayer, it'd be at a pretty big disadvantage against these rivals. Halo fans are probably relieved that multiplayer is free and are looking forward to jumping into it as soon as the game launches, now that multiplayer and Halo Infinite's campaign are launching simultaneously.
It's not just the quantity of player access to Halo Infinite's multiplayer that matters, though -- the quality is crucial. Multiplayer details are murky, but 343 Industries promises multiplayer will support 120 FPS, which is a really impressive number in a time where plenty of games and consoles still only support 30 FPS. Halo Infinite's multiplayer framerate will make the game wonderfully fluid to look at so long as it's consistent. Such a high framerate does put a lot of pressure on 343 Industries to make the multiplayer perfect, though. It's a bar that might be hard to reach reliably, and 343 can't afford to scale back its plans. It's too late to change fan hopes for free multiplayer with a seamless framerate.
Learning from the Past
When Halo Infinite got its first gameplay reveal, fans weren't too impressed. The response from fans moved 343 and Microsoft to delay Halo Infinite to late 2021, which showed that these companies take fan feedback seriously and want Halo Infinite to live up to expectations. If it was conscious of fan response before, then 343 has to know that there'll be a lot of backlash if Halo Infinite's multiplayer stumbles. Just meeting these specific expectations and delivering little in other departments isn't good enough, either. Just like the campaign, Halo Infinite's multiplayer needs to release with high-quality gunplay, well-integrated equipment, and sharp graphics that make it an all-around success.
Since Halo Infinite was originally going to release its singleplayer last year and follow up with multiplayer later, the hope is that most of Halo Infinite's development is still focused on multiplayer right now. Surely 343 is doing some work to polish the campaign while it has the time, but the multiplayer is too important to Halo Infinite's success to ignore. There's lots that needs to go right for the game to appease fans. Halo Infinite is supposedly meant to be updated with new content for many years, too, so the stronger the game's launch it, the more likely it is that 343 and Microsoft can achieve their dream of making Halo Infinite the definite Halo game for a great many years. Maybe at E3 fans will find out where Halo Infinite's multiplayer is going.
Halo Infinite releases in 2021 for PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.