With anticipation building for Halo Infinite's multiplayer launch, rumors and leaks are sure to be circulated through the fan community. Unfortunately for excited players, the launch may come a little later than some rumors say.
Over the past week, rumors and leaks have circulated claiming that Halo Infinite's multiplayer would launch very soon. Naturally, player anticipation built quickly for the rumored early launch, but some remained skeptical.
On November 13, an independent account "confirmed" that the multiplayer section of Halo Infinite would launch on November 15. However, the reporter has since taken the claim back, stating that a last-minute change will be pushing the release back to later in the month. However, the release is still planned for November, so the delay will hopefully not be long if everything goes as planned.
While the delay may be disappointing to some fans, the lack of official confirmation from Microsoft or 343 Industries hopefully kept fans skeptical enough to not be too surprised. All "confirmations" and other signs pointing to Halo Infinite's early release were from unofficial sources and leaks, with one piece of evidence coming from the HaloHubGG website claiming to have come directly from 343 Industries' servers. The legitimacy of the insider information provided is questionable, but as with any leak, it is always safer to not believe the rumors and be surprised if they happen than to believe it and be disappointed when they do not.
Unfortunately, it can be easy to get caught up in the excitement of a potential early launch; surprise launches are relatively uncommon and historically have had mixed results. A classic example is SEGA's release of the Saturn hardware, which launched before stores could properly stock it and is commonly attributed to be one of the reasons the console failed to meet sales expectations. However, unlike a new console or a full-priced game, the multiplayer component of Halo Infinite will be free to play on both Xbox and PC.
Whenever Halo Infinite launches, the highly-anticipated multiplayer is sure to be a hit. Free-to-play first-person shooters and the first-person shooter genre in general are incredibly popular, and with most of the long legacy of Halo games available in Halo: The Master Chief Collection, many players are able to experience the titles in the best way possible without having to pick up previous Xbox consoles to do so. Thanks to Halo: The Master Chief Collection, players will not have to worry about missing important story elements leading up to Infinite.
Halo Infinite releases on December 8 for PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.