Halo Infinite could be one of the first games to skip a traditional public testing by insiders, according to 343 Industries who posted a breakdown of their plans following a campaign reveal on the Xbox Game Showcase.
Of course, Microsoft and 343 Industries would be following through with releasing the game for Holiday 2020. But as Gamesradar reports, the studio had originally wanted to offer access to a beta testing program to players at E3 2018. However, the worldwide coronavirus pandemic had set development behind for feedback, with creative director Chris Lee writing “While not the full program we had envisioned, we have been working very closely with the community on nearly every facet of the project.”
Lee added Infinite‘s release on PC is just as significant as the Xbox Series X, while public feedback was essential to The Master Chief Collection coming to the long-awaited platform.
“From the earliest planning where we focused on broad feedback around art style and story to actual hands-on playtesting and focus feedback with confidential groups of community representatives over the past two years, Halo Infinite is being created in partnership with the community,” Lee said. “The team is still working and assessing options for broader hands-on opportunities before launch and we’ll share an update when we can, but this process doesn’t stop with launch.”
Even without an early beta, Halo Infinite is coming on Holiday 2020 as a sixth major installment to the long-running first person shooter series. Its resurgence over PC had become widely accepted by fans over the Steam and Microsoft Store distribution platforms while Infinite is confirmed to launch with cross compatibility and Xbox Game Pass integration. As a dedicated PC release, Lee also told players to stay tuned for requirements and recommended hardware specifications ahead of time.
The specs would also help PC players tune-up or give birth to their rigs just in time for Halo Infinite, which packs a new Slipspace Engine that puts the series into a next gen spotlight. In tandem with the Xbox Series X, both console and PC versions would run in near-identical requirements that fit ray tracing and 4K resolution at stable 60 frames per second. On PC, it’s likely that players can uncap their frames to run over 144Hz monitors.
Halo Infinite doesn’t have a set release date, while fans can already access the game’s Steam and Xbox product pages ahead of Holiday 2020.
