With Halo Infinite slated to release holiday 2020, gamers are concerned that the Xbox One version of the next Halo title will be a watered-down port compared to the next-gen version. The director for all things Halo, Frank O’Connor, contradicts that skepticism, claiming the Xbox One version “will look incredible“. Project Scarlett will clearly have the superior port compared to the base Xbox One, but O’Connor elaborates that the Xbox One version will act as the base version for Halo Infinite whereas the Scarlett version acts as the enhanced version.
“We’re building [Halo Infinite] so it plays and looks fantastic on Xbox One, and then everything else is plus-plus-plus, but we’ve got a few tricks up our sleeves that we’re thinking about.” O’Connor explains. It appears the methodology for Infinite’s production is to work in collaboration with the hardware division of Xbox while creating the latest iteration in the Halo franchise. The incremental design of Halo Infinite’s development will also fit quite well on the PC side of things. If gamers have a PC build on par with an Xbox One or even more capable than the upcoming Xbox Scarlett, 343 Industries aspires for them to enjoy the game with ease regardless of their rig’s capabilities.
The emphasis on player freedom of choice concerning how they play their games exhibited from O’Connor’s words parallels Microsoft’s own initiatives with services such as Project xCloud and Xbox Play Anywhere. Business perspectives aside, Halo Infinite is shaping up to be a worthy entry in the landmark Halo franchise. What do you think of O’Connor’s promises? Do you trust him or would you rather wait to see the finished product?