Halo Infinite’s multiplayer release is a welcome surprise for most, not all

This story about big surprises, boiled down, in 1:43 minutes.

What’s the fuss?

Fans of one of the most important video game franchises of all time are ecstatic about the surprise release of Halo Infinite’s multiplayer mode. It’s fantastic news for most, but might be bad news for a few.

The situation

Xbox’s first person sci-fi shooter franchise Halo is legendary, with its latest sequel Halo Infinite being almost mythical at this point.

• The game was originally supposed to release alongside the new generation of Xbox, but ended up being delayed to early December 2021.
• Despite the delay, a few lucky players had early access to the game with a vast majority of the feedback being overwhelmingly positive.

Over the past weekend, evidence mounted that the multiplayer mode of the game would be releasing early.

• Data miners discovered that on the official Xbox store as well as on the game’s sponsors websites that the release date was moved up to, well, today.
• The game’s developers confirmed live on Xbox’s 20th Anniversary celebration video that those rumours were true, with the mode being available now!

Boiling it down

Rationale is strong for the multiplayer portion of Halo Infinite to release early…

• Today is Halo’s 20th anniversary (i.e. the first Halo game released 20 years ago), so having it release today has significance and importance.
• Surprise releases have historically been extremely successful for fledgling video games, leading to impressive initial player counts and soaring stock prices.

…but there’s also reasons for why it shouldn’t.

• Another one of Microsoft’s landmark franchises is the racing game Forza, where its latest iteration Forza Horizon 5 released only just last week.
• It has been a smashing success so far with over 6 million players, but this player count would likely become cannibalized as Xbox players flock to play Halo.

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