Ideas for Fresh Story Content in Halo Infinite May Have Been Scrapped

It seems like a bit of a bummer for those who are fans of Halo, as reports have suggested that 343 Industries has called off any plans to offer additional story content for Halo Infinite. This disheartening news comes amidst the company undergoing major job losses and internal reorganizations.

Halo Infinite has gone through a challenging production process with a few postponements, launching without key components like the co-op mode and Forge map editor, which were staples of the franchise since Halo: Combat Evolved. Despite the pandemic playing a role, the game’s Slipspace engine was also a source of issues for the developers more than a year later.

Bloomberg tech contributor Jason Shrier has reported that 343 is undergoing a significant studio overhaul. This shakeup is supposedly including leadership changes and extensive job cuts, although Microsoft has stated that 343 is indispensable to Halo ‘s future. Transitioning away from the limited Slipspace engine and towards Unreal Engine 5 is one of the alterations. Moreover, while Season 3: “Echoes Within” is still planned to be released in March, 343 has apparently canceled the production of new narrative missions for Halo Infinite.

Not much is known about the story missions that were canceled for Halo Infinite. The post-credits scene from Halo Infinite depicts Atriox, the antagonist from Halo Wars 2, unlocking a chamber containing more of the Endless. Completing Halo Infinite on Legendary Difficulty reveals a teaser for the return of the powerful Forerunner military AI Offensive Bias. These scenes may have been building up to the next Halo title, or they could have been connecting Halo Infinite to its story expansions. Additionally, the new story missions might have served to bridge the gap between the games.

It is all conjecture, and there is no way to ascertain what these missions would have been like had they been executed. Nonetheless, 343 Industries is advancing with the development of Halo Infinite ‘s Season 3, which will introduce a Fracture event, new Armor, three maps, two multiplayer modes, sandbox items, and more. Initially, the plans were to launch it in November 2022, but the release date was postponed to March 7, 2023.

343 Industries, who had partnered with Certain Affinity on multiple prior Halo titles such as Infinite, is currently collaborating on a new Halo project titled Tatanka that was originally thought to be a battle royale game. Whether this is still the plan is uncertain. This game, however, is noteworthy as it will be the first Halo game to be created in Unreal Engine and 343 Industries has spent a significant amount of time prototyping it over the last year.

The newest installment of the Halo franchise, Infinite, can be found on PC, Xbox One and the Xbox Series X/S.