Perhaps the most exciting detail about Halo Infinite revealed over the past day is that the game is set to live up to its subtitle. 343 Industries has no plans to release numbered Halo sequels for the foreseeable future and will instead grow and evolve Halo Infinite on the Xbox Series X platform. But that has left many Halo fans wondering what that means in a material sense for future Halo Infinite content. Specifically, if that means the Halo ring setting shown so far is just the first of many Halo Infinite locations.
Speaking about her hands-on impressions of Halo Infinite, Rooster Teeth's Alanah Pearce said she asked developer 343 Industries specifically if players will be visiting other worlds. 343 understandably responded that it wants "to keep some secrets." Pearce goes on to say that she assumes this hints that there will be more worlds.
For now, the only world, so to speak, that's been shown for Halo Infinite is the Halo itself. This setting could absolutely make for a massive story campaign, even one as large as both Halo 4 and Halo 5 put together. The original Halo provides an idea of the diverse range of environments that can be found on a Halo. 343 could probably even get creative enough to get 5 or even 10 years of content out of it.
The question is, however, whether that's worth doing or even something 343 would want to do. After all, 343 has an entire universe at its fingertips. To limit it to just one Halo installation would be stifling. A single game might be fine, but years of content is a different matter entirely.
But, it's safe to say that Halo Infinite staying on just the Halo ring is unlikely. At the very least, Halo Infinite is directly tied to the story of Halo Wars 2, which takes place on Installation 00, also known as the Ark. That's a setting that still has a role to play going forward, and so visiting it again in the future is a near certainty. After all, Halo Infinite's leading villain isn't even the top leader of the Banished. Atriox awaits somewhere else.
Halo fans will just have to wait and see what 343's plans are for Halo Infinite and beyond. Worlds beyond the Halo ring aren't a certainty, but it would certainly be a disappointment if 343 didn't explore beyond the familiar with this generation-defining Halo title.
Halo Infinite releases holiday 2020 on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.