Update: 343 says recent rumors suggesting Halo Infinite might pass on an Xbox One release and be delayed until 2021 are "fake."
This comes from Halo Infinite community manager John Junyszek, who took to Twitter for a decisive refutation of reports on Halo Infinite's release timing and platform support. Apparently, everything's still on schedule for a 2021 Halo Infinite release on both Xbox Series X and Xbox One.
Hey Eric - we're seeing lots of fake "leaks" out there, so please don't believe everything you read. There are no plans to change our 2021 release or the devices and platforms we'll be supporting. We're building Halo Infinite to be the best it can be on each device/platform 👊August 25, 2020
Original story follows...
Halo Infinite could be an Xbox Series X only title, as the developers are considering dropping the Xbox One version due to performance issues.
The rumor comes from VGC by way of Resetera user (and previously accurate leaker) Sponger. According to Sponger, Halo Infinite devs at 343 Industries are "struggling to achieve performance about 900p on the oldest Xbox One S console". As a result, 343 is considering dropping the Xbox One version and doing a next-gen only release on the Xbox Series X.
"[The] current version of Halo Infinite on Xbox One S is nowhere near 1080p (even lower than 900p) and is having serious asset loading issues (much worse that you have seen on PC demo)," Sponger alleges. "Idea is to change at the engine level how assets load, make RT as default (improve/"unlock" some assets), improve geometry, post-processing and add more CPU bound interactivity." Sponger also writes that Microsoft may push Halo Infinite beyond 2021 if it feels the game would benefit from more production time. "It's pretty messed up there with decisions but they are convinced that they need to make the best Halo game ever," they allege.
If this is the case, Halo Infinite would be breaking Microsoft's promise that all first-part Xbox titles for the next few years would release on both current and next-gen consoles - even though that promise was technically already broken during the Xbox Games Showcase, when several trailers for newly revealed titles confirmed they would be released on Xbox Series X only.
The Halo Infinite delay was announced earlier in the month, confirming the former Xbox Series X launch title would be pushed to 2021 "to ensure the team has adequate time to deliver a Halo game experience that meets our vision." Stay tuned to see if this delay will also result in 343 Industries dropping an Xbox One version of Halo Infinite, too.
See what's on the way with our guide to upcoming Xbox Series X games.
