It was more than three weeks ago that 343 Industries announced that a “high-level” update will be making its way for Halo Infinite disclosing details on the progress made for the coming sequel following the game’s abrupt delay earlier in August of this year. For what is projected to be discussed, the firm then was suspected to offer insight on how the team advanced the Slipspace engine among other aspects to meet next-gen standards.

Leading up to that, a string of rumors broke out which claimed that the developer is working to bring the game to store shelves by spring 2021 and incorporate a battle royale mode alongside two spin-offs in the works. But before the seeds could even sprout, 343 Industries disputed the rumors and told that it could just “solve this with real news”, told by Community Director Brian Jarrard.

And today the Halo studio reemerged to press its followers on the new information that fans are dying to seep their teeth into after months of waiting. To reiterate, while Halo Infinite is projected to release sometime in 2021, there is no definite date for the first-person shooter. In the blog post on Halo Waypoint, the firm unveiled a release window for fall 2021.

Joseph Staten, recently appointed Creative Director for Halo Infinite shared that the game will be available in the latter parts of 2021 through his impressment back to the Halo franchise. “After Reach shipped, I became a Halo fan, cheering-on 343i from the sidelines. But I’ve spent the last four months immersing myself back into the Halo universe, and it’s my honor as creative director to help our team ship Halo Infinite in Fall 2021.

“Yep, that’s when the game is coming out.” He adds, “and from now until then, every one of us at 343i and our great partner teams will be building, testing, and polishing an experience we hope all of you love.” As for the evident changes made to Halo Infinite, the art team that has been and continues to tweak the visual fidelity for the game elaborates on its progress.

Firstly, the team goes to acknowledge the issues present in July’s build presented such as indirect lighting, texture interpretation, and object rendering. But on how the developer expands on the problems, the team works steadily on balancing the nostalgic look of original installments, but meeting the new principals set for the newer players joining. Even going as for to reference the fallout for players reception of Halo 5: Guardians and honing the “classic” look.

We knew it wouldn’t be trivial to combine the cleaner and simpler forms of classic games like Halo 1 or 2 with the next-gen requirements and expectations of Halo Infinite. Merging both was going to be a challenge, but we stood close to our visual principles and made it work in the best way, one day at a time. We managed to find a balance of modernized visuals combined with a classic aesthetic that will definitely speak to all, and we couldn’t be more proud of this.

Nicolas Bouvier, 343 Industries Art Director & Senior Concept Artist

Atop of the day & night changes compared to the summer demonstration, there are also glimpses at some of the game’s multiplayer including more Spartans in classic-era armor, weapons, and an idea of the structure for matchmaking maps that will be in the full game. Most notably, lighting is continued to be adjusted to properly dress environments and players accordingly.

The team goes on to even reveal that online is also subjected to the dynamic global illumination which was featured in the campaign footage. In the post, the firm also elaborates on character model fidelity and how that is being tweaked as well. More importantly, Craig: “All characters are modelled in a neutral pose, prior to blendshapes & animation being applied,” Neill Harrison, Director of Art Management explains. “So, poor old Craig was never intended to be seen in that condition which is not something that was evident during the gameplay.

“It was only later, in the close-up freeze frame of his one bad moment, where it came to light and the legend of Craig was born. So, whilst we have come to love our dear old Craig, he’s certainly undergoing a significant makeover. Craig isn’t the only model to see improvements though, there have been significant changes to other characters & 3D models as we continue to evolve and polish our content, some of which can be seen in the Spartan and weapon renders being shared today.”

While plenty is still to come on the development of Halo Infinite and the visual improvements that are currently underway, 343 Industries welcome a new face according to LinkedIn. Former Naughty Dog & Insomniac Games Senior Lighting Artist James Guard announced his hiring to 343 Industries. You can read the full report by heading here.

Are you satisfied with the progress made for Halo Infinite?

Halo Infinite is set to release sometime in fall 2021 for Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.

Source: Halo Waypoint