Joe Staten Explains The Slow Turnout Of Content For Halo Infinite In Recent Community Livestream

For many fans of the Halo IP, the state of Halo Infinite is no secret when it comes to its content flow. Despite 343 Industries promising a fruitful live-service game shipping it free-to-play, much of its is still the same with no consistent stream of add-ons. Recently, the team did verify content tied to the Paramount+ show is on the way, but that is not enough. Elsewhere, the team released a full roadmap for 2022 listing its content slated for the coming months. While this does give some perspective on what to expect from 343 Industries moving forward, the rate at which content is distributed leaves a poor taste for many players. However, Head of Creative Joe Staten responds to the complaints in a recent Community Livestream with answers as to why that is. When discussing the subject matter with Halo Community Directory Brian Jarrard, Staten explains that the team is certainly not satisfied with the state of the roadmap, but was necessary to properly fix ongoing quality of life issues in-game. You can watch the segment of the livestream in the video below: “One thing to make really clear: none of us inside of 343 look at this roadmap and is happy with it. All of us want to be doing this faster to deliver more content. Y’know we still have this desire to get into a rhythm- a healthy rhythm where we can ship a season every three months,” Staten explained. “So, for us internally it was painful frankly to communicate this roadmap for the season that was gonna run for another six months.” He continues, “But the reason why we’re doing that […] we have to prioritize going after quality of life issues that are impacting the game right now. Like today when you fire up the game: that is out number one priority. We’re still working on additional seasonal content, but we need to create space for the team to rigorously go after these improvements that matter right now.” Staten’s comment on the state of post-launch content goes on to align with a previous post on Halo Waypoint regarding plaguing issues inflicting Halo Infinite. For one, the desync issues that continue to swell and ongoing latency that many players are facing is one major task that 343 Industries is adamantly pursuing to better the overall game. As for other major updates to the game, reports continue to surface on ‘Project Tatanka’. In that, the codenamed game mode is said to be the long-awaited Halo battle royale that is being helmed by support team Certain Infinity. The claim indicates the release to be sometime in Season 3 or even Season 4 later down the road. You can read the full report by heading here. Are you in favor of Staten’s statement on Halo Infinite’s post-launch plans so far?

Halo Infinite Reportedly Planned To Work In Hero-based PvP Before Being Discarded For Its Classic Arena Gameplay

Since players got their hands on Halo Infinite, it was instant that the game found its sweet spot when it came to the core gameplay. From our review of the game, David Rodriguez concluded with “The story of Master Chief and Cortana is riveting, the Banished make excellent enemies and the multiplayer is the most fun I’ve had since Halo 3.” However, the post-launch for the game is left into question if 343 Industries can manage a live-service title. While it is reported that the game is internally blamed for the quick downfall of Battlefield 2042, fans currently bombard the Halo studio with questions on where its promises for more content is. Now six months later, Season 2 – Lone Wolves is here. However, plenty is still missing from the game like co-op campaign which was pushed to mid-season 2 now. Howbeit, there was more that was planned for the full game which we never received. From Twitter user @ChrisRayGun, he claimed Halo Infinite originally projected its multiplayer to be hero-based like Overwatch or Apex Legends. But, it was discarded early on. But what makes this claim more eye-opening is that Bloomberg Tech’s Jason Schreier corroborated the post on Reddit in response. “This was actually cut from my article late last year – yes, 343 spent a while prototyping a hero-based system,” he explained in the post on the message board thread. “I don’t remember exactly when they switched to the current version (and the tweet linked here seems exaggerated to the point where it’s mostly false) but I can confirm that they were working on various hero-based prototypes. In fact, I think there were both PVP and PVE prototypes built.” But, that is not the only prototype in the woks for the game. The latest string of leaks for Halo Infinite unveils battle royale is in the works. From Windows Central’s Jez Corden, it is explained that Certain Infinity has been working on ‘Project Tatanka’ for two years and is likely to ship the mode by Season 3 or Season 4. Elsewhere recently, 343 Industries pressed on other matters for the multiplayer for Halo Infinite. While an overarching ranking system is absent aside from the battle pass, the developer is working on a career progression system. However, it will be some time until it is implemented as the game studio explained it is still in the design phase. You can read the full report by heading here. Are you surprised by the discovery of initial plans for Halo Infinite’s gameplay? Source: Reddit

Microsoft Reveals Fortnite xCloud Support On iOS/Android & PC For Free Starting Today

In the ongoing story of Fortnite returning to mobile, everyone knows the story that started the new epic for Epic Games. When the firm decided to reduce the price of its digital currency for V-Bucks, both Apple and Google removed the game from the App Store and Google Play Store respectively. Since then, the game has been absent from mobile play aside from the Nintendo Switch. However, a report surfaced disclosing plans at NVIDIA to deliver support for the game via GeForce Now. It was not until this past January that NVIDIA officially announced the plan. Currently, the game is in beta for the service with no approximate time frame entailing when Fortnite will be available to all of its subscribers on GeForce Now. Well, Microsoft beat NVIDIA to it with xCloud. On Thursday, Microsoft announced that it is partnering with Epic Games to deliver Fortnite via its cloud streaming platform for Android, iOS, and even PC. As part of our mission to bring the joy and community of gaming to players wherever they are and to make gaming more accessible to people around the world, I’m excited to announce that we’ve partnered with Epic Games to make Fortnite available on supported browser-enabled devices for free with Xbox Cloud Gaming (Beta) in 26 countries. With no installation or memberships required, all you need to do is go to Xbox.com/play on your web browser and sign-in with your Microsoft Account to party-up with friends or earn your next Victory Royale in Fortnite. Whether you want to play Fortnite with native touch controls or a supported controller, it’s easy to jump into Fortnite with Xbox Cloud Gaming. Catherine Gluckstein, Xbox Cloud Gaming Vice President and Head of Product “It’s an important step to add a Free-to-Play title to the cloud gaming catalog as we continue our cloud journey. We’re starting with Fortnite and will look to bring more Free-to-Play games people love in the future,” the post added. The announcement comes as a surprise as the cort feud between Epic Games & Apple revealed the Fortnite team intentionally blocking Microsoft from hosting the game on xCloud in the past. Additionally, this appears to play in part of the new initiative for more games coming to xCloud. Recently, division director Kim Swift revealed that xCloud is receiving its own publishing team to offer new games that will be exclusive to the peripheral. There is still no word as to when we can see the fruit of the initiative becoming ripe. The announcement also aligns with a previous statement from Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer. Previously he expressed a desire to make xCloud available without being tied to a subscription. While it is still mostly accessible via Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, Fortnite is the first step for the ambition. You can read the full report by heading here. Are you excited to play Fortnite on xCloud? Source: Xbox Wire

More Than 10 Million Users Streamed Games On xCloud, Microsoft CEO Shares

When it comes to Microsoft this latest console generation, the platform faces new heights that the previous Xbox One generation could not deliver. Surprisingly, the Xbox Series S remains the most sold unit in comparison to its beefier Xbox Series X sibling. Back during Black Friday in November, the SKU outsold both Nintendo Switch & PlayStation 5 then. Elsewhere, xCloud also faces impressive feats as well. For one, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella expressed that millions are already entertained with the game-streaming program. More recently, Microsoft told that the iOS version of xCloud also faced improvements which drove engagement up roughly 35 percent at the time. During the latest Microsoft earnings call in late April, Nadella told that xCloud reached a new milestone with over 10 million users tried xCloud since its inauguration two years ago. With Xbox Cloud Gaming, we are redefining how games are distributed, played, and viewed. To date, more than 10 million people have streamed games. Many of our most popular titles, including Flight Simulator, are now accessible on phones, tablets, and low-spec PCs for the first time. To put into perspective how many users are truly using xCloud servers, let’s compare it to Xbox Game Pass subscribers. As of January, the subscription service exceeded more than 25 million users then. However, xCloud is only tied to the Ultimate tier for the service. So lining up with overall subscribers would range close to 1/3rd of Xbox Game Pass users played on xCloud. Looking ahead, Microsoft has recently introduced its new Xbox Game Studios Cloud organization which will stand as a publisher for cloud-native titles. In the presentation, director Kim Swift elaborates on the perks of working with Microsoft and using cloud remote servers to expand conventional development. You can read the full report by heading here. Were you among the 10 million to try out xCloud? Source: Microsoft

Xbox Game Studios Reveals New Publishing Banner For Cloud-native Titles

During the infancy of Project xCloud at the time, Microsoft was specifically clear on the advancements of the service to not branch too far from the Xbox ecosystem. Mainly creating exclusive games that won’t be available on the other platforms. “We remain committed to an approach with game streaming that is complementary to console and have no plans for cloud-exclusive content at this time,” one Microsoft spokesperson said then. However, that appeared to have shifted when Microsoft later revealed when speaking to Polygon that it established a new xCloud division to create unique projects for the game-steaming peripheral. More exciting is the addition of Kim Swift: a former Valve developer responsible for her work on Portal & Left 4 Dead more than a decade ago.  In a previous presentation from Microsoft Game Dev, Swift reveals that Microsoft formed a new publishing division solely for xCloud projects which further fuels its ambition to drive more users for the service. You can watch the presentation in the video below: The new Xbox Cloud Gaming organization is told to “partner with world-class game development teams to develop cloud-native games to bring unprecedented experiences to players that can only be achieved with cloud technology.” Swift elaborates that these games will be running on remote servers, but will perform like native titles you find on console. Howbeit, there are some advantages to cloud-native titles. Such as Crackdown 3: its unique Wrecking Zone mode offers destruction rendered from cloud blades which delivers dynamic physics which does not restrain the hardware running the game. But, Swift does acknowledge that cloud gaming is still you expressing it to “still [be] in its infancy.” She added this program is the same Netflix faced when first founded. “At the time when Netflix was formed, internet speeds were not what they needed in order to send packets fast enough to support streaming, so instead they sent physical packets in the mail in the form of DVDs, and they had to wait for technology to catch up with their vision. But they were ready for it.” Additionally, Swift injected the benefits of cloud gaming with unique AI that could improve development for game studios as well. Namely allowing teams to “advance what developers can do by using technology like machine learning, natural language processing and reinforcement learning.” I really think this is what people think of when they hear cloud gaming. At one point I was working on a cloud title and was asked the question, “how do we build massive, concurrent scale for players and make that more engaging? How can we have more players in a space than we’ve ever seen before?” And these are areas that definitely require longer term investment, but we’re excited to start looking forward and driving what that possibility space could be. Kim Swift, Xbox Cloud Gaming Director Regarding what is on the table for xCloud currently, speculation still lingers on the involvement of Kojima Productions. Last year, it was reported that the Death Stranding head Hideo Kojima was in discussion on the matter for an Xbox exclusive title. Later it was claimed Kojima signed a latter of intent for the project and was learned the unnamed title would be for xCloud. According to a later story from Siliconera, it was revealed that Kojima is interested in returning to the Bokai IP: a series he worked on for the Game Boy when still at Konami. Him interested in revisiting a handheld series this recent does raise hopes he’s entertaining the idea of potentially working on a cloud title, no? You can read the full report by heading here. What are you excited to see come from the new Xbox Game Studios cloud publishing?

xCloud Support On iOS Told Improved Results For More Playtime From Platform Users, Microsoft Says

While Project xCloud initially kicked off in fall 2019 with the beta of the service allowing users to play Xbox on the go without dedicated hardware from Microsoft, the initiative has gone on to expand beyond Android to other platforms extensively. For one, iOS & PC receive support soon after with workarounds for a browser-based application. Additionally, new records were set for xCloud featuring more than 100 titles with native touch screen controls support as well. More recently this past holiday, Xbox One & Xbox Series systems also received support for xCloud enabling players on weaker hardware to enjoy the newest releases or simply play without the wait time downloading. On the matters of touch controls once more, Microsoft also revealed previously that roughly 20 percent of its users use the peripheral exclusively over pairing a controller. In one update this March, Microsoft shared that iOS has since received enhancements to the version of xCloud which in the long-term has drastically improved engagement with its users as a result. “At Xbox Cloud Gaming, we listen to and value player feedback,” says Nicole Hilbert, Product Manager at Xbox & Akshar Pandia. “You asked for a better iOS experience, and as a result, we have brought major performance improvements to all supported iPhone and iPad devices.” More impressively is the bullet points from the blog post: “We have seen a significant increase in positive player feedback since implementing these changes. […] Higher Engagement: 35% longer play times.” Upon expanding on other upgrades for xCloud, Asobo Studio confirms the team is working on implementing keyboard & mouse support for the mobile platform. Of course, this is namely introduced for its 2020 release Microsoft Flight Simulator. You can read the full report by heading here. Are you excited for more on the way from the xCloud team? Source: Xbox Wire