Halo Infinite secret audio file hints towards the plot of the game

There's a hidden message inside the latest Halo Infinite development update, which could point towards Cortana being one of the main villains.

In a new blog post, 343 Industries gave us an update about the development of Halo Infinite, but the team also hid a secret audio file in the post which players have discovered. The audio file makes a reference to Cortana's actions, which could possibly be a hint towards the direction of the overall story of the game. 

The hidden audio, which you can listen to just below, is a 46-seconds long conversation between Master Chief and Dr Halsey, the subject of which also makes reference to the story events of Halo 5. This indicates that Halo Infinite is going to continue the narrative set up in the previous game.

Secret audio in the latest Inside Infinite article (Halsey and Chief) from r/halo

For those who can't hear it very well, this is the transcript for the chat:

Halsey: "How many now?"

Man: "16 systems shut down so far, seemingly random locations. I’m attempting to lock her and the others out of the main-"

Halsey: "You will not be able to stop her. She knows more about how this all works than…well, anyone".

Master Chief: "Dr Halsey."

Halsey: "John".

Master Chief: "What’s the plan?"

Halsey: "The plan? Right now, we are in survival mode, again. Cortana’s message has spread across the galaxy, most sentient AI is siding with her".

Master Chief: "Against us?"

Halsey: "Yes… But maybe not you. Tell me, John, what was the last thing she said to you?"

Master Chief: "She said… goodbye".

From this, we can discern that Cortana is going to play a big part in Halo Infinite, quite possibly even being one of the main villains of the game as they are seemingly rallying sentient AI to fight. Based on where Halsey says that the AI aren't specifically going against Master Chief, however, points towards the potential for unexpected twists in the upcoming game.

The Halo Infinite delay last year was a disappointment for fans in the run-up to the launch of the Xbox Series X, but fingers crossed that these teases mean the game is in good shape. Right now, there is no official release attached to Halo Infinite other than 'Autumn 2021' but developer 343 Industries is trying to keep people updated with monthly blog posts regarding the game.

While we wait, you might as well spend time looking at our list of new games 2021.