As Vice President of Xbox Games Studios, Bonnie Ross also heads 343 Industries, the studio that has been responsible for the Halo license since 2007. On the occasion of the publication ofHalo infinite, Ross entered interview in CNet columns. She returns to the issues related to Ascension, as the single-player campaign demo released in July 2020 was called.
She recalls that COVID-19 actually forced developers to work from home. The pandemic was then added to the list of challenges 343 faced in developing the game open world in gameplay and the development of a new technological tool, the SlipSpace Engine. Some members of the development team were confused about the quality of Ascension:
I want to say that a lot of people on the team have said to us: “I think this is a mistake”. We all watched the demo at home, on every screen of every color gradation we had.
Despite these doubts, Microsoft is unveiling this demo as an introduction to the Xbox Games Showcase. A decision Bonnie Ross regrets today. 343 Industries then became aware of the limitations of remote working. This is urging developers to regroup within the Seattle premises:
It was a mistake. This gave rise to the Craig the Brute meme. Overall, Halo Infinite looked bad. After Ascension, we emptied a whole section of our fourth floor and then installed monitors with all the different versions of the game, and we also installed cameras so people who weren’t comfortable could come to the site.
This demo presented a version of the game that should be released in late 2020. In memory of: Halo infinite should be a major launch title for the Xbox Series X | S will be. In order to get the game out on time, the studio had to compromise the visual quality of the game:
Members of the team already let us know that we had cut too big. And I think it was mostly a very public look in the mirror that, “Yeah, we actually cut more than we should have.” . Unfortunately, an IPO isn’t what the team wants to see. You know, I think the team wants to be proud of everything they publish and want it to reflect the quality of what they do. And what we showed [lors du Xbox Games Showcase] not.
For the rest of the story we know, Microsoft is postponing the release ofHalo infinite a year. And despite the difficulties and setbacks encountered, it is a technically very solid game that 343 Industries gives us today.
If you want to find out more, you can browse our review right here. The single player campaignas for her, will be on Xbox Series X starting tonight at 7:00 p.m. | S, Xbox One and PC be playable. You can play it through Game Pass or buy it from the Microsoft Store at a price of 69.99.
