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[Rossco EZ]

Halo Infinite dev responds to negative reactions, telling players "your voice matters"

The in-depth reveal of Halo Infinite during July's Xbox 20/20 event was met with negative criticism from some fans. One dev has now responded to say this feedback isn't "falling on deaf ears."

www.trueachievements.com

Dan Chosich Halo Infinite's narrative experience director replied to one fan saying "I've been in your shoes. I know what it's like to have expectations built + feel let down. I want you to know your voice matters + is heard. You're not falling on deaf ears. I always want to live up to the legacy that Bungie pioneered. I personally care a lot about honoring that."

Aaron Greenberg spoke to inside gaming last week and said "Listen, we're in the middle of a global pandemic. It's July; we're far from Holiday, you're seeing a work-in-progress game," adding, "It's very hard to show the full power and graphic fidelity of what Xbox Series X can deliver for you over a stream, so go back and look at it in 4K/60. It is a work in progress. We see build check-ins every week, and they make progress week after week, so between now and Holiday, it's going to get better and better."

Do you guys expect a lot to change?

 

[GaviotaGrande]

I expect PC modding community to fix what Microsoft and 343 can't.

 

[sircaw]

4 months is to little time, there will be some improvements no doubt but some of those issues won't go away.

Just delay the damn game, 7/10 game will not help Microsoft cause.

 

[Aight]

Anthem 2.0

 

[Coulomb_Barrier]

They got about 3 months to finish the rest of the game then make fundamental changes to graphics. Not happening. Really it should be delayed but I suspect they'll get it out if they have to sacrifice some content.

 

[JonnyMP3]

Didn't really say much but as the 'Narrative Experience Director' give me a a fucking decent narrative experience!
If it's another Halo Guardians cluster fuck... Then forget it. Halo is dead.
I can take 1 absolute nonsensical bullshit in a franchise. MGS2 is proof of that. But do it twice...

 

[INC]

Isn't it a GaaS, so adding shit along the way (like RT)......

If both companies take that approach, next gen is basically dead.

Sad really, really hoped halo was gonna wow me into next gen (even tho im not a halo fan at all)

 

[Wandering Leopard]

MS have to take a little responsibility by hyping it up so much, but then again it could play far better than it looks.

It looks like they are committed to the GaaS-like model and have said it'll be improved over time because they don't want to fracture the community by releasing sequel on top of sequel.

 

[hyperbertha]

Not a bad response. Too bad his boss Greenberg isn't so smart.

 

[nush]

Dan Chosich Halo Infinite's narrative experience director replied to one fan saying "I've been in your shoes. I know what it's like to have expectations built + feel let down. I want you to know your voice matters + is heard. You're not falling on deaf ears. I always want to live up to the legacy that Bungie pioneered. I personally care a lot about honoring that."

 

[notseqi]

I don't mind if they manage to fix stuff but if they 'fix' Craig they have got another thing coming.

 

[TBiddy]

Humble response. The only right way to respond to this. Bossman Spencer should hire him as Global Marketing Dude and get rid of Greenberg, who looks more and more likely to have been planted by Sony.

 

[Arun1910]

3 months development time is not going to fix your textures and overall asthetic. It needs a ground up rework. This is pure damage control.

Plus this demo was running on a PC so I'm not sure what the show what Series X can do statement was about?

 

[Rossco EZ]

best part for me is Greenberg saying "It's very hard to show the full power and graphic fidelity of what Xbox Series X can deliver for you over a stream, so go back and look at it in 4K/60.” well i think most did and it still didn’t look next gen and was running on PC

 

[aries_71]

Has Phil posted or said anything after the disappointing July Game Reveal?

 

[metareferential]

It's a GAAS cross-gen game, too big for the team to handle, to important for Ms to let them do their job.

They should ditch their in-house engine, go with UE5, delay for a year or more, and make it XSX exclusive. That's the only (totally unrealistic) way you could bring this up to speed tech-wise.

I'm hopeful the gameplay loop will be fun, though: Halo's gunplay and feeling is still one (if not the best, in Bungie's Halos) of the best on market, and I love the lore.

Graphics aren't that important: if they butcher Halo with GAAS shenaningans they're done.

 

[Lone Wolf]

best part for me is Greenberg saying "It's very hard to show the full power and graphic fidelity of what Xbox Series X can deliver for you over a stream, so go back and look at it in 4K/60.” well i think most did and it still didn’t look next gen and was running on PC

The 4K video just brings out the shit textures even more.

 

[FunkMiller]

The game clearly needs delaying. Better to do that and take the hit of missing the launch window, than put out a game that is going to be sub par.

 

[DeltaPolarBear]

It's a GAAS cross-gen game, too big for the team to handle, to important for Ms to let them do their job.

They should ditch their in-house engine, go with UE5, delay for a year or more, and make it XSX exclusive. That's the only (totally unrealistic) way you could bring this up to speed tech-wise.

Unrealistic? Not really. No Many's Sky and Final Fantasy XIV showed what is possible if the IP owner really CARED, and actually wanted to deliver.
Unfortunately, it doesn't look it a year of delay would cut it. To actually be what was promised they would have to pull a BotW, and literally spend 4 or 5 years rebuilding it. Does Xbox have that kind of patience? Does Xbox even CARE enough?

It is sad, but very likely Halo Infinite will be released as-is. Gamepass can't afford exploding budgets. If you can't deliver with what you have, just ship it and move on.

 

[cireza]

Game releasing in 6 months is not finished yet. Who would have thought ?

 

[RoadHazard]

It's releasing in like 4 months. There won't be much change.

 

[INC]

Unrealistic? Not really. No Many's Sky and Final Fantasy XIV showed what is possible if the IP owner really CARED, and actually wanted to deliver.
Unfortunately, it doesn't look it a year of delay would cut it. To actually be what was promised they would have to pull a BotW, and literally spend 4 or 5 years rebuilding it. Does Xbox have that kind of patience? Does Xbox even CARE enough?

It is sad, but very likely Halo Infinite will be released as-is. Gamepass can't afford exploding budgets. If you can't deliver with what you have, just ship it and move on.

This is true, but those games werent meant to launch a new console and next gen.

Thats the difference, this was meant to be a flagship next gen experience, 5 years development.

This was basically a tinder expectation vs reality situation

I feel like halo has catfished its fans

 

[tommycronin]

It will be ready to play properly in 10 years as they've said.

 

[Shmunter]

I dunno, they’re doing something right. We wouldn’t have Craig.

 

[ZywyPL]

I'm getting mixed/opposite messages about Halo's state of development - on one hand it's an old build, that supposedly has already improved a lot, one second one, they hear the criticism and want to improve as much as possible - but if it's an old build they already addressed the visuals and currently the game is in better shape, no? And on the 3rd hand - "go watch the gameplay in 4K60 version, this will do the game's justice" - like they are actually so proud what they have showed. So what is it then??

Realistically, 3-4 months vs 5 years the games has been in development so far is nothing, I don't expect much if anything to change, the RT patch will obviously improve the visuals, but the question is how much, giver there's no PBR so the metal etc. simply looks fake and RT won't change that, nor the other art direction decisions of the game which indeed remind of old Halos for OG XB and X360. Has there ever been an instance where a game looked clearly much better at launch than shortly prior its release? IMO instead of doing the damage control which only causes even more damage they should just completely ignore the conversation and focus on the bright sides, like the gameplay, talk more about the semi-open world structure, where the story is going, about the multiplayer and so on, because as of now, they're fighting a battle they cannot win.

 

[Mokus]

Microsoft should have checked this gameplay demo with gamers for feedback. The whole presentation, which was quite good, was eclipsed by the Halo Infinite bad reception.

 

[Flintty]

best part for me is Greenberg saying "It's very hard to show the full power and graphic fidelity of what Xbox Series X can deliver for you over a stream, so go back and look at it in 4K/60.” well i think most did and it still didn’t look next gen and was running on PC

“ You realize you will see every game in 1080p as your output right?” Version 2020.

 

[Grinchy]

Game releasing in 6 months is not finished yet. Who would have thought ?

So it's not launching with the XSX? I didn't know it got pushed back to late January 2021.

 

[Guilty_AI]

Did this game receive
any other criticism besides not looking next-gen enough? Because if so, this whole controversy feels pretty stupid.

 

[Skyfox]

I'm not a huge Halo fan so I dont mind if they skimped here but I just don't see the value in the series X. I love my one x so ill wait until some cool games appear on the horizon.

Right now there's just screaming angry psycho women and utterly vapid airy fairy garbage.

Killer Instinct and Titanfall single handedly sold me on xbox one.

Its been YEARS since microsoft had a good game showing

Are they still playing chicken with PlayStation?

Is this a ruse?

 

[FireFly]

Unrealistic? Not really. No Many's Sky and Final Fantasy XIV showed what is possible if the IP owner really CARED, and actually wanted to deliver.
Unfortunately, it doesn't look it a year of delay would cut it. To actually be what was promised they would have to pull a BotW, and literally spend 4 or 5 years rebuilding it. Does Xbox have that kind of patience? Does Xbox even CARE enough?

It is sad, but very likely Halo Infinite will be released as-is. Gamepass can't afford exploding budgets. If you can't deliver with what you have, just ship it and move on.

Well look at what Microsoft (eventually) did with MCC after a plane crash of a launch. Microsoft says Halo Infinite will replace numbered sequels for the next 10 years, so they will be updating it either way.

 

[Flintty]

Did this game receive
any other criticism besides not looking next-gen enough? Because if so, this whole controversy feels pretty stupid.

Some complained about grapple hook and sprint or whatever but it is what it is. Most controversy is the visuals.

 

[VAVA Mk2]

MS have to take a little responsibility by hyping it up so much, but then again it could play far better than it looks.

It looks like they are committed to the GaaS-like model and have said it'll be improved over time because they don't want to fracture the community by releasing sequel on top of sequel.

Honestly I don't think MS is not monitoring quality and giving 343i the resources and the focus it should be given how much they were banking on Halo Infinite as the possible system seller or Game Pass seller. Something like this needs more attention and resources.

 

[ricardo_sousa11]

Delaying wont do any good.

Its clear they have a lack of talent in the team, it takes the same amount of time to create a good model as a bad model. The game will be average at best, everything they have shown is average, and if it didnt have the halo name attached most people wouldnt even try it.

 

[The_Dama]

Did they actually think that the demo they showed would WOW people? The game looks like a current gen game and that’s how they opened up the showcase. As a huge Halo fan, this is not good.

 

[xrnzaaas]

I'm sure the game will look much better... eventually, after a series of post launch patches. Not gonna happen in 4 months. They should've been busy testing the finished product for bugs now (especially the MP component), not preparing to make significant last minute improvements.

 

[Gamernyc78]

Crackdown 3 was delayed to death and what was shown initially was way better than what we got kind of what we saw in Halo few years ago looked good but then we got this presentation. It's not a good pattern.

 

[Deleted member 775630]

They got about 3 months to finish the rest of the game then make fundamental changes to graphics. Not happening. Really it should be delayed but I suspect they'll get it out if they have to sacrifice some content.

They got 9 months, since rumours said the demo was 6 months old. They've probably already made improvements.

 

[Rossco EZ]

They got 9 months, since rumours said the demo was 6 months old. They've probably already made improvements.

if the demo was 6 months old and greenberg said “We see build check-ins every week, and they make progress week after week, so between now and Holiday, it's going to get better and better.” then why didn’t they have something better to show for the big event?

 

[the_master]

I'm getting mixed/opposite messages about Halo's state of development - on one hand it's an old build, that supposedly has already improved a lot, one second one, they hear the criticism and want to improve as much as possible - but if it's an old build they already addressed the visuals and currently the game is in better shape, no? And on the 3rd hand - "go watch the gameplay in 4K60 version, this will do the game's justice" - like they are actually so proud what they have showed. So what is it then??

Realistically, 3-4 months vs 5 years the games has been in development so far is nothing, I don't expect much if anything to change, the RT patch will obviously improve the visuals, but the question is how much, giver there's no PBR so the metal etc. simply looks fake and RT won't change that, nor the other art direction decisions of the game which indeed remind of old Halos for OG XB and X360. Has there ever been an instance where a game looked clearly much better at launch than shortly prior its release? IMO instead of doing the damage control which only causes even more damage they should just completely ignore the conversation and focus on the bright sides, like the gameplay, talk more about the semi-open world structure, where the story is going, about the multiplayer and so on, because as of now, they're fighting a battle they cannot win.

Forget about the "old build" excuse.
They showed the latest working build with custom fixes to make it look as good as possible.
They wouod never show a months old build.

The game can still be great, but we saw what they have now, custom polished

 

[Ten_Fold]

Ok, no offense to women or LGBTQ, but when I saw that diversity photo, then seen the results of a gaming coming out VERY soon I had little hope the game might turn out good. Honestly they are better off just copy and pasting halo 3’s multiplayer, with new maps and call it a day.

 

[Deleted member 775630]

if the demo was 6 months old and greenberg said “We see build check-ins every week, and they make progress week after week, so between now and Holiday, it's going to get better and better.” then why didn’t they have something better to show for the big event?

Demo's aren't so easily created. It's not just plug & play, where they simply cut a part out of the game and play it.

 

[Rossco EZ]

Demo's aren't so easily created. It's not just plug & play, where they simply cut a part out of the game and play it.

i disagree, if they couldn’t get better effects, lighting, shadows, and better res textures in 6 months from that ‘old build’ then i have no hope that they will show anything any better from now until launch.

 

[Shmunter]

Ryan Macafrey slams Halo, says MS will either delay the game or prioritise Raytracing for launch to fix the flat gfx referring to Digital Foundry analysis.

What do you think, will it be delayed? Will it launch on time with RT? Will RT fix the games problems?

 

[Deleted member 775630]

i disagree, if they couldn’t get better effects, lighting, shadows, and better res textures in 6 months from that ‘old build’ then i have no hope that they will show anything any better from now until launch.

We'll see at launch, or probably in 1 month with the next footage of Halo

 

[Dee Dah Dave]

Said it many times but 343 have been sub par for far too long and that can only come down on management to take the responsibility. Bonnie Ross and Co are not the right people to be leading Microsofts supposed premier IP. All the diversity talk / hiring is your first clue that they aren’t picking the best people for the job.

Halo Infinite could and should have been a major talking point leading into this generation. Ironically it is but for all the wrong reasons.

 

[The Alien]

Dont have much of a choice. So I'm interested to see what it looks like at release.

If the build was 4-6 months old and we're about 3 months away from launch, could be enough time to patch things up.

I just wouldn't have shown it in that state. I e been pretty fair to 343, but if they cant deliver on this game I think XBOX really need to take a hard look at 343 (management, ways of working, etc).

 

[onunnuno]

It's very hard to show the full power and graphic fidelity of what Xbox Series X can deliver for you over a stream

Ask Sony then, they seem to know how to do it

 

[xPikYx]

They really expect us to believe that they will reconstruct the illumination system, rebuild all the 3d assets and fill the world with 8k textures in 4months, plus adding Raytracing

 

[ZywyPL]

What do you think, will it be delayed? Will it launch on time with RT? Will RT fix the games problems?

I think after all those Spencer's assurances that the game is gonna be released this holiday season no matter what, it's already way to late. It's GaaS after all, they will continue the work after the game is released.