It's official: the long awaited brand new entry in the Halo franchise is being delayed. One tweet from the official Halo account was all it took to break the hearts of fans everywhere, and Halo Infinite is no longer an Xbox Series X launch title. Instead, it'll be coming out sometime in 2021. It's a disappointing revelation, if not an overly surprising one, since the entire gaming industry is still grappling with the impact of COVID-19. Halo Infinite isn't the first game to need more time in development as its developer adjusts to the new normal, and it won't be the last.
However, while it's probably for the best for Halo, it's devastating news for the Xbox Series X and fantastic news for the PS5. It's a very tense time for Microsoft and Sony as they remain locked in a battle for holiday season supremacy, each wielding new consoles and launch exclusives. It goes without saying that Halo Infinite was a very important weapon in Microsoft's arsenal, and now it won't be available when Microsoft needs it most. It's not hard to imagine that Sony's executives are delighted by the sales advantage that Halo's delay gives to its console.
Halo's Gravity
It goes without saying that Halo has a ton of gravitas, and its success is going to have an affect on the Xbox Series X's success. The franchise was a dominant FPS for over a decade, with a strong core series and a long list of spin-offs that took the series into different genres. The franchise started to slow down after Halo 5: Guardians, finally breaking a seven-year streak where Halo games and rereleases were constantly coming out. However, Halo still showed plenty of life afterwards, with some high-profile announcements like Halo: The Master Chief Collection arriving on Steam last year, and Halo Infinite's announcement the year before.
Halo Infinite was unquestionably the intended star of the Xbox Games Showcase that took place in late July. Microsoft knew how important Halo was to the new console's success, so it made plenty of time at the start of the showcase where the game's developers could show off cutscenes and gameplay. Discussion bookending the show indicates the weight of Halo too; Geoff Keighley's pre-show and post-show for the showcase involved a lot of discussion about Halo with his co-hosts and Halo Infinite's developers. The air was abuzz with talk of the Master Chief's next adventure.
The history and reputation of the franchise are especially important when one considers the size of the community. The Master Chief Collection has many thousands of positive reviews on Steam, showing that there is still a lot of love to give for a franchise coming up on its twentieth year. The demographics of the community are important, too. A lot of veteran Halo players that were young when the first trilogy came out are now employed adults who will be the key market meant to make Halo Infinite a success. Because it's meant to be a major Series X title, the very same community has a lot of power over how the new Xbox will sell too.
Sony's Advantage
That shows how devastating it is that the game is being delayed, and how good it is for Sony. Lots of Halo fans are going to reevaluate how much they want to get an Xbox Series X at release if Infinite is the number one game they wanted to play at launch. If enough of them decide the console isn't worth the initial investment and settle for getting a copy for PC or Xbox One later instead, it's going to put a serious dent in the Series X's sales at launch later this year.
In contrast, Sony has a lot of projects being cooked up for the PS5's launch within the same window. It's going to have a lot of PlayStation exclusives with as much gravity as Halo Infinite like Horizon Forbidden West or Spider-Man: Miles Morales. There's lots of upcoming selling points for PS5 too, like Ratchet and Clank: Rifts Apart, Godfall, or the upcoming Demon's Souls remake. Sony has a lot of very noteworthy cards in hand right now.
These cards might not destroy the Xbox Series X, but the initial sales will say everything about both consoles' success. As the clock ticks down to Microsoft and Sony rolling out their consoles, players will start to think more and more seriously about what each company can offer. If they decide Sony simply has more drawing content than Microsoft, Sony will win the crucial battle for supremacy in the holiday season, taking over an important sales window. Huge sales on the PS5 will draw in more customers later on. Being perceived as the more popular console will only serve to enhance the PS5's popularity.
Damage Control
Now it's up to Microsoft to figure out how to mitigate the boost that Sony gets out of Halo Infinite's delay. As long as COVID-19 remains a problem, there's always the chance that studios will be forced to make the hard decision to delay their games, but Microsoft can't count on that happening to all of Sony's exclusives. Instead, Xbox has to work with what its got and promote as much as possible -- which could work. Xbox still has a lot of titles that have a shot at being Series X selling points. Grounded is already getting a lot of attention, and titles for farther down the line like The Medium and Avowed might be able to shift the needle.
For now, though, the PS5 has a leg up on winning the 2020 console wars. Sony's studios are going strong and show no sign of faltering the way that 343 Industries has. Unless a couple major games drop off Sony's launch roster to even the playing field, Microsoft will have to put out some very drawing games in the future and lean heavily on its trusty Game Pass to mitigate the Xbox Series X's plausible defeat at launch. With a few months to go before either console goes to market, anything can happen. Microsoft can't be completely counted out yet, but it has a hill to climb if it wants to get over the advantage that's been handed to its rival.
Halo Infinite will release in 2021 for PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.