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Halo Infinite Launch Was Like A Runner Tripping And Falling At The Finish Line, Xbox Boss Says

"The classic runner's mistake of tripping and stumbling as you come across the finish line. We've got to recover there. The burden is on us."

www.gamespot.com

Microsoft Studios boss Matt Booty has discussed Halo Infinite's launch, saying the launch was akin to a runner coming across the finish line and then tripping and falling down.

"The classic runner's mistake of tripping and stumbling as you come across the finish line. We've got to recover there. The burden is on us," he said.

"These days, with a game like Halo Infinite, shipping the game is just the beginning. There has got to be a plan for content sustain; there has got to be a plan for regular continuing engagement. And we just fell short of the plan on that," Booty said.

In response to this, Booty said the developers at 343 have "retrenched" and came up with a new setup to help deliver content in an effective way. The studio previously said it would need to slow down updates for Halo Infinite so it could get back up and running properly in the future, and this seems to be what Booty is alluding to. Booty also talked about the leadership changes at 343 as an example of how the team is setting out to make Halo Infinite the game is needs to be for fans.

"Thank you to the players for sticking with us through this. We know there is way more demand and there is so much more we could be delivering," Booty said. "That is our focus right now... on quality of life for the game and getting on a regular cadence of content, getting back to that."

 

[remember_spinal]

Game is dead, kind of tired of hearing about how badly it failed at this point

 

[GooseMan69]

Remember 2007 when Halo 3 launched with campaign, 4 player co-op, multiplayer, and forge, all on day one?

 

[Daytonabot]

He left out the part where the race was part of the Special Olympics.

 

[Kacho]

Content sustain wouldn’t be much of an issue if they shipped a content rich game in the first place

 

[Jennings]

As far as I know Microsoft has nothing being released until well into next year. Why are they out there giving interviews and speeches right now? So far everything I've read from them lately all just seems to be self-depreciating navel-gazing.

They just need to shut up already and come back with something new and interesting to share. Beating all these dead horses seems like a self indulgent pity party, not a come to Jesus moment.

 

[digoutyoursoul]

Makes me wonder what state the game was in before the delay, particularly in terms of content for multiplayer.

 

[Bonfires Down]

 

[MidGenRefresh]

Such a great game. What a rotten way to die.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

Microsoft's way of just saying anything (even the most obvious things) is terrible. Sometimes less is more people.

 

[M1chl]

Lol no, they tripped way before launch, yes it gave us the all mighty Craig, but still don't try to spin that.

I love Craig tho.

 

[Thirty7ven]

Feels more like they tripped at the halfway point and then tripped again falling face first at the finish line but still got a pity standing ovation.

 

[gow3isben]

But isn’t this game the reason they won “publisher of the year”?

 

[Gudji]

 

[Pelta88]

It's official. The Halo Infinite damage control from certain folks is dead.

Also, Halo fans looking at what 343i did to one of XBOX's most important franchises...

 

[MDSLKTR]

Makes me wonder what state the game was in before the delay, particularly in terms of content for multiplayer.

iirc Phil wanted the multiplayer part to release at launch. What was the map team doing for a whole damn year then? Couldn't even bother to remake classic maps no no, forge and the community will take care of that.

 

[Lucifers Beard]

If I didn’t have such a huge library of games on my Xbox then I’d probably sell my Series X without much thought. The problem is that this was their big game for me and they fucked it with regard to MP (I really loved the SP!). I probably have just 2 or 3 hours in the MP and never touched it again. Usually I sink hundreds of hours into Halo and it’s my go to MP title.

The other problem is that MS are whisper quiet about their games and so little is known about the titles in production that it’s difficult to get hyped for them. I am rooting for them but their AAA output needs to get good in 2023. This isn’t just a Halo problem in my opinion.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

Finish line? More like the starting line right?

 

[Quixz]

Remember 2007 when Halo 3 launched with campaign, 4 player co-op, multiplayer, and forge, all on day one?

Back when the people working on the game had the talent, skills, and passion

 

[remember_spinal]

But isn’t this game the reason they won “publisher of the year”?

The microsoft/xbox centric outlets were giving it a 100/100, 10/10. 5/5… they leave no room for developers to actually improve and self reflect because they’re all so desperate for their platform of choice to “win”

Essentially they put Infinite on the same tier as the original trilogy so of course 343 thought they could kick their feet up on it. Everyone wanted a triumphant underdog story instead of fairly criticizing how underbaked it launched

 

[Kacho]

It's official. The Halo Infinite damage control from certain folks is dead.

Also, Halo fans looking at what 343i did to one of XBOX's most important franchises...

It’s indefensible at this point. The game had a year delay and is still missing features, still lacking content. The scope of the campaign was clearly reduced too and there’s nothing on the horizon to look forward too.

The leadership shakeup at 343i says it all. Shit game from a shit studio.

 

[Iced Arcade]

Game was actually decent but wasn't what the companies flagship franchise should have been.


no one can deny they over sold and under delivered.

 

[digoutyoursoul]

iirc Phil wanted the multiplayer part to release at launch. What was the map team doing for a whole damn year then? Couldn't even bother to remake classic maps no no, forge and the community will take care of that.

What stands out to me, is they mention Covid in terms of difficulties making the game. I understand that, it was tough on everyone.

However you look back at the infamous Craig showing in July 2020 , the likes of Aaron Greenberg was trying to put Covid as a big issue in the reasons the game had a weak showing. Lockdowns only began a handful of months beforehand, March here in the UK, so what has been going on there?

I’ve said it before, too many for some peoples liking, if people like the folk running Xbox fine. I lost faith in them years ago, I strongly believe Halo and Xbox could be so much better than it is now. All that money. It’s clearly a people problem there end 343 is a prime example along with others.

To me Xbox should have a first party as good as PlayStation is, I realise that is subjective, to me they are not and I want to see that change.

 

[balls of snow]

Ms treating Halo like Sony with Days Gone. Wild times.

 

[feynoob]

It's official. The Halo Infinite damage control from certain folks is dead.

The 10 year plan should have been the big red flag.

 

[azertydu91]

Lol no, they tripped way before launch, yes it gave us the all mighty Craig, but still don't try to spin that.

I love Craig tho.

My thoughts exactly, if the game only had some server issues day one that took a bit of time to resolve then yeah this analogy would hold, but a game that had to be delayed for a year because of how ugly it looked and after that was still barren content wise, it is not a few trips by the end.
It was a parapelgic trying to outrun Usain Bolt, chaotic and painful to watch.

 

[ParaSeoul]

Put the series on hold for at least another 4 years at least,not even a Halo fan but I can't imagine how it must feel to be one and seeing your series get a fate worse than death.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

I mean, it kind of tripped and fell not just at the finish line. The game was in development hell.

I honestly don't know why it took that long to make. It was a competent game, mechanically, and fun to play - but there's NOTHING groundbreaking about the open world, the MP, etc.

What took 6 years to make, exactly???? It's literally just minor tweaks to the same Halo formula that have existed for ages. Really unacceptable results from 343.

 

[ProtoByte]

That implies 343 had forward momentum with Halo to begin with.

Infinite was basically confirmation to me that their game problems wouldn't be fixed. If you can't get your production values up and ducks in a row for your most important franchise, what project are you going to be serious about?

 

[GHG]

Makes you wonder what they sent the press to smoke on during the review period.

Unfortunately so many games get reviewed for what they could be instead of what they are at the time of writing.

 

[Elios83]

But isn’t this game the reason they won “publisher of the year”?

This game had many fake 9/10 and 10/10 scores from websites like Windows Central and people like Jeff Grubb. They simply decided dishonestly that they wanted this game not to fail no matter what.
It's funny that now one year later even the developers admitted it was a failure.

 

[JTCx]

But isn’t this game the reason they won “publisher of the year”?

This game was a special case where the games media didnt want it to fail.

 

[EverythingsOverrated]

Halo Infinite tripped and fell at what seems like every possible point during development.

Last year at release it was a solid game with a good (albeit uncreative) campaign and a good starting point for mp. Over a year later and I have seen no real reason to reinstall this game. MS needs to fess up for real and find another team for Halo. 343 has gotten their chances and they've failed.

Makes you wonder what they sent the press to smoke on during the review period.

Unfortunately so many games get reviewed for what they could be instead of what they are at the time of writing.

Yup. For some reason MS was given the benefit of the doubt for this games post release window despite there being no real reason to believe that 343 was going to stick the landing.

 

[Fuz]

Craig was a success.

 

[Fuz]

This game was a special case where the games media didnt want it to fail.

Yeah.
This game was a "special case". Like it's not 99% of gaming press reviews.

 

[FireFly]

Halo Infinite tripped and fell at what seems like every possible point during development.

Last year at release it was a solid game with a good (albeit uncreative) campaign and a good starting point for mp. Over a year later and I have seen no real reason to reinstall this game. MS needs to fess up for real and find another team for Halo. 343 has gotten their chances and they've failed.


Yup. For some reason MS was given the benefit of the doubt for this games post release window despite there being no real reason to believe that 343 was going to stick the landing.

They're finally working on reducing desync, improving aiming on PC and adding a match XP system to largely replace the challenge system.

https://www.halowaypoint.com/news/sandbox-balance-updates-winter-update
https://www.halowaypoint.com/news/match-xp-beta-progression-winter-update

 

[GHG]

Yeah.
This game was a "special case". Like it's not 99% of gaming press reviews.

It happens far too often. I'll probably make a thread about it some day highlighting all the special treatment and crap the media have been sent in recent years prior to game reviews. It's straight up bribery in some cases. That's why I value steam reviews above all else.

 

[hinch7]

Ms treating Halo like Sony with Days Gone. Wild times.

Not that wild considering the franchise appeal has been constantly dropping throughout the generations. And now reached an all-time low.

MS just didn't know where to take the franchise after Bungie left and the direction (or lack thereof) has gotten progressively worse with every new entry.

They need a real shake up for Halo 7 imo. Maybe start by getting rid or overhaul of that old engine for starters.

 

[ProtoByte]

But isn’t this game the reason they won “publisher of the year”?

That and fucking Flight Simulator, apparently. Pure astroturfing. The media continue to give Microsoft undo credit and second chances.

"This time they need to deliver" is something that is said every year on the year by major gaming websites and pundits. It pertains to "E3" conferences and games alike.

 

[TheShocker]

Microsoft sure is doing a great job at apologizing for their shortcomings. So much so, it’s all they’re doing.

 

[Bumblebeetuna]

It’s funny how when certain games score well then it must be bribery or something. Maybe the media didn’t understand just how spectacularly the MP would be fucked up. At launch the game was great.

 

[Mister Wolf]

Should have used Unreal and scrapped that ancient game engine. The Coalition and plenty of other developers familiar with Unreal could have assisted.

 

[adamsapple]

There's already a thread for the same interview from the same podcast:

https://www.neogaf.com/threads/xbox-studio-boss-matt-booty-talks-halo-starfield-and-xbox-in-2023-friends-per-second-podcast.1644669/#post-266877273

 

[remember_spinal]

I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of 343 end up at Bungie after this

 

[Mibu no ookami]

This game was a special case where the games media didnt want it to fail.

No one wants another Sony monopoly. Halo Infinite is intrinsically linked to the success of the Xbox platform and really the only hope to keep Sony in check.

The media knows that a Sony monopoly isn't good for it, and consumers know the same thing, whether they be PC fans, Sony fans, or Microsoft fans.

 

[LordCBH]

They blew the first impressions with me with a dreadful initial reveal and then a bad open world slog when it came out. They’d be better off abandoning Infinite and moving on to a new title. There’s just too much baggage there.

 

[S0ULZB0URNE]

Just pull the plug.

 

[Fuz]

Honestly felt more like a runner tripping and falling at the starting line.

recent years

It's not recent at all.

 

[S0ULZB0URNE]

I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of 343 end up at Bungie after this

Bungie doesn't want or need them.

 

[remember_spinal]

Bungie doesn't want or need them.

Idk bungie has been hiring like crazy, i could see a lot of the senior staff making their way over. It must be hell working on halo at this point.

I’d rather go work for the company with multiple big games in development that don’t have such a dark cloud looming over them