Newest game in 343 Industry’s hugely popular franchise will miss its 2020 holiday release, hampered by production challenges and the ongoing impact of COVID-19.
343 Industry, home to the Halo Universe, has announced that the release of Halo Infinite has been pushed to 2021from its originally scheduled 2020 holiday season launch. Studio head, Chris Lee alerted fans of the change via Twitter and Facebook, attributing the delay to ongoing COVID-19 related challenges.
“The decision to shift our release is the direct result of multiple factors that have contributed to development challenges, including the ongoing COVID-related impacts affecting us all this year,” wrote Lee. “I want to acknowledge the hard work from our team at 343 Industry who have remained committed to-making a great game and finding solutions to development challenges. However, it is not sustainable for the well-being of our team of the overall success of the game to ship it this holiday.”
“We know this will be disappointing to many of you and we all share in that sentiment,” continued Lee’s statement. “We wanted nothing more than to play our game with the community this holiday. The extra time will let us finish the critical work necessary to deliver the most ambitious Halo game ever at the quality we know our fans expect.”
The Halo franchise began with a single video game in 2001, but now spans numerous record-breaking games, best-selling novels, comic book series, animated series, toys, and collectibles. The Halo Universe follows the story of a future war between humanity and a powerful alien enemy, the Covenant. At its core, it is a tale about mankind’s desperate struggle for survival and its unwillingness to be swept aside, no matter what the threat.
The 2021 release date has not yet been announced.
