At E3 2018, Microsoft officially unveiled Halo Infinite, the next main series game in the Halo franchise that will focus on Master Chief and his story. The trailer shown at the Microsoft conference is being called a demo for the new Slipspace engine running the game, and by the language being used, the actual launch date of the game could still be a ways off. But, it looks as though players will be side-by-side with 343 Industries over the course of development, including being able to playtest the game at certain stages.

Chris Lee, Studio Head of FPS at 343 Industries, said Halo Infinite's developers are taking their time to get the game right, making changes to how they develop this title in comparison to how they have developed other Halo games in the past. Lee said 343 Industries really wants to get player feedback during development, and that includes letting players go hands-on with parts of the unfinished game:

"We will have some new and unexpected directions to take folks in and I believe the way we achieve that is to build alongside our community, iterating and improving as we go. In the future, you will be able to join early flighting programs that will let members of the community play the game with us, and give direct feedback, much like the current Insider flighting program for Halo: The Master Chief Collection. It will take some time for us to be ready to kick those flighting events off, but when we do they will start small and grow along the way."

The Master Chief Collection Insider Program is currently underway between 343 and fans, and it's a program that lets players sign up to be considered to play what 343 calls "flights," which are representative slices of the game that let 343 test a number of things from matchmaking to design. Although there's not a lot to go on as to how exactly these flight programs will work when it comes to Halo Infinite specifically, they will likely function in a similar way.

halo infinite master chief

It's a safe bet that a game of this magnitude will also include at least one beta, but that's not the same as what's being talked about here. These would be a number of playtests that gamers would download at home onto their consoles and give direct feedback to influence the development of Halo Infinite. For those interested in taking part, 343 Industries has yet to announce how players can sign up for this program for Halo Infinite, but when it is time, surely 343 will make an announcement.

Check out the engine demo and announce trailer for Halo Infinite.

Halo Infinite has yet to receive an official release date.

game rant e3 2018 banner

Source: 343 Industries