Halo Infinite is an upcoming first-person shooter game developed by 343 Industries and published by Xbox Game Studios for Microsoft Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X and Series S. The sixth main entry of the Halo series and the fourteenth game overall, it continues the story of the Master Chief as the third chapter of the "Reclaimer Saga", following Halo 5: Guardians (2015). Originally intended to launch alongside the release of the Xbox Series X/S, it was delayed in August 2020 and is rumoured for release in 2021. However, Brian Jarrard, Halo's community director, has cleared up that the release date hasn't been "locked on yet."

Development

Halo Infinite is being developed by 343 Industries with assistance from Skybox Labs, Sperasoft and Certain Affinity. It will utilize the new Slipspace Engine. The story entered planning stages in 2015 and was referred to as Halo 6 at the time. An announcement trailer was released on June 10, 2018. The developer said that all of the scenes in the Halo Infinite trailer were running in the engine. Halo Infinite will feature split-screen again, in response to the backlash of its removal in the previous game. It was also planned to have a beta prior to its release, described as an insider flight program.

Although initially implicated to be exclusive to the Xbox Series X, development director Frank O'Connor stated in August 2019 that Infinite was being developed for Xbox One. He said they were "building it so it plays and looks fantastic" on the platform, would have enhancements when played on Xbox Series X. In January 2020, Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty confirmed that the studio had no immediate plans for Xbox Series X exclusives at launch, preferring to phase out compatibility with older hardware over a longer period, similar to PCs. Development was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, forcing developers to work from home.

After the Xbox Games Showcase on July 23, 2020, 343 Studio Head Chris Lee stated that a public beta is unlikely due to the impact of the ongoing pandemic, despite Microsoft stating at E3 2018 that there would be a public beta ahead of launch.

On July 31, 2020, it was announced that the game's multiplayer portion would be released as a free-to-play game.

On August 11, 2020, it was announced that the game has been delayed until 2021 due to a range of factors, including the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic affecting development. Microsoft initially planned to split the game into several parts but ultimately decided against it. It was reported that 343 Industries heavily outsourced the game to external developers, resulting in development troubles, and was a contributing factor to the delay. Speaking to IGN, a spokesperson for 343 Industries denied that the Halo TV show had an impact on Halo Infinite's development, but IGN state that "the spokesperson did not speak to the report's claim that 'a significant portion of the game is being outsourced to third-party contractors.'"

On August 27, 2020, after Jason Schreier of Bloomberg News initially broke the story, 343 Industries announced that Joseph Staten, the former lead writer and cinematic director of the Halo series at Bungie, joined the team as Campaign Project Lead for Halo Infinite. On October 28, 2020, it was reported by Bloomberg News that Chris Lee, the game's director, had officially departed from the project.