Although Microsoft and 343 Industries are keeping most of the details about Halo Infinite under wraps, the developers are expected to make a major announcement at the upcoming Xbox Series X event. Fans' expectations for Halo Infinite's gameplay presentation are growing as the Xbox Games Showcase approaches. In its latest community update, 343 Industries highlighted what fired up audiences should anticipate at the Xbox Games Showcase and acknowledged current fan rumours.

The developers revealed that gamers would get their first glance at Halo Infinite's single-player campaign in today's Halo Waypoint post. Interspersed with remarks on the future of the Halo franchise, including Halo 3, The Master Chief Collection and Halo 5: Guardians, 343 addressed an upcoming event and reassured fans about the organization concerning releasing specific details Halo 5: Guardians.

In addition to showcasing new Halo Infinite merchandise in the lead-up to the game's holiday 2020 release, 343's "Campaign Countdown" recognized community feedback on the franchise's latest Mega Construx playsets and mini-figures. Fans criticized several Halo Infinite-inspired toy sets for allegedly revealing plot points from the game's campaign. In response, Bungie assured players that the latest announcements are "part of the roadmap to launch" and do not contain any plot spoilers for Halo Infinite's campaign.

The amount of information about the campaign that will be revealed during 343's countdown is limited. Only a few phrases revealed that the first genuine details about the game's proposition would be revealed on July 23 during live-streamed campaign gameplay reveal on the PlayStation 4. On Xbox.com and the console's various social media accounts, players will be able to listen in on the broadcast. According to a second tweet, Geoff Keighley will host a pre-show as part of the ongoing Summer Game Fest, which Xbox has partnered with within the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Even though 343 Industries and Microsoft have been deceptive in their marketing efforts outside of their most recent comments to disprove fan leaks, the duo's evasive marketing strategy has seemed to be amazingly effective. The overwhelming majority of Twitter responses to the brief official statement on Waypoint and social media have been positive. Excited fans have also been pumped up by Xbox's official Twitter account, making the rounds. In addition, it appears that even the developers' comments about any potential spoilers from merchandise have effectively quashed or confused gamer anticipations and suppositions for the revelation.

Halo Infinite has a lot to live up to as the flagship title for the upcoming Xbox Series X and the resumption of Halo 5's cliffhanger, so it must do. After months of hype-filled supposition, it is hoped that the latest series of the sequence will live up to and even exceed audience expectations.

According to reports, Halo Infinite is the most highly-priced computer games project pace with the fast.

Halo Infinite, the eagerly anticipated resumption of the widely known Xbox exclusive franchise, is rumoured to be the most expensive project in the historical record of the video game industry, with an estimated budget of $1 billion.

According to the German website Xbox Dynasty, Microsoft and 343 Industries have set a budget for Halo Infinite of more than 500 million dollars. Also, the amount only covers development costs and does not include marketing costs.

It's likely that, with that budget, Halo Infinite will be more expensive than Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto V and the upcoming Red Dead Redemption 2, which are both well investing a significant amount of money into their projects. Even the most expensive shooters released to date, such as Destiny and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, did not have budgets that exceeded $300 million at the time of publication.

It is not clear whether Xbox Dynasty has provided evidence to support its claim, nor does it have a proven record of rumours that have proven to be correct. Consequently, even if the $500 million figure is removed from the equation, Microsoft's decision to invest heavily in the development of Halo Infinite makes perfect sense.

It was revealed at E3 2018 that Halo Infinite would be the sixth major instalment in the series, following a teaser that showed a glance of Master Chief's iconic helmet. Using the new Slipspace Engine, which was developed in-house for use in future instalments of the franchise, it was being developed.

Director Chris Lee will disclose more details about Halo Infinite at E3 2019, according to 343 Industries head Bonnie Ross. A few weeks ago, the latter stated that 343 Industries refers to the game as a "spiritual reboot" of the Halo franchise. Previously reported that the game will be the launch title in the next Xbox consoles, undoubtedly revealed at the event. The game's anticipated appearance at the yearly showcase is in keeping with that report.

Considering the importance of Halo Infinite, Xbox Dynasty's claim that Microsoft provided 343 Industries with $500 million to help them develop the game is a reasonable assumption. Unfortunately, until Microsoft officially confirms this rumour, Halo fans can only hope that it is accurate and that Halo Infinite will live up to — and perhaps even exceed — the high expectations placed on it.

Is Halo Infinite a cross-platform game?

Since the launch of the Xbox and the Halo franchise together in 2001, the Halo franchise has served as the company's brand ambassador. Throughout the series' history, each new game has significantly improved on the previous one while also pushing the genre of multiplayer shooters on consoles forward overall. With innovations such as matchmaking, forging, theatre mode, and custom games, the Halo games have always gone above and beyond to ensure their multiplayer offerings are as robust as possible.

Halo Infinite has made a step that is unprecedented in the series' history. A standalone free-to-play game version of the multiplayer aspect will be released for the first time. It will also be available on three different platforms at launch: the Xbox One, Xbox Series X and S, and the personal computer. With so many options for places to play, mainly when there is no admission fee, you may be perplexed about where you should go. Here are some suggestions. To ensure that you and your friends can all join forces for one of the most anticipated multiplayer shooter releases of the year, here's everything that you need to know about Halo Infinite cross-play.

The short and sweet answer is that Halo Infinite supports cross-platform play across all platforms on which it is currently available. That means you can join forces with anyone else playing on the original Xbox One, Xbox Series X and S, and PC simultaneously in the same game. When it comes to getting together with your friends to have some multiplayer fun, there are no barriers between you and them.

However, this is only applicable to the competitive multiplayer modes of the game for the time being. As we previously learned, the co-op campaign for Halo Infinite will not be available at the game's launch. Once it is released, we anticipate that players from any supported system will participate in this mode as well.

Cross-progression in Halo Infinite is a possibility.

Additionally, if you have multiple systems or prefer to switch between PC and console, you can rest assured that Halo Infinite offers complete cross-progression support. Any improvement you contribute to making on one platform, such as the Xbox Series X, can be seamlessly transferred over to the PC and resumed whenever you want on the PC. This contains your multiplayer leaderboard, character, and all of your progress in that mode, as well as your progress in the battle mode when it becomes available.

Xbox's surprise launch of Halo Infinite is a power play that breaks all the rules.

Halo Infinite's multiplayer mode was released nearly a month ahead of schedule, despite it appearing to be a joke at the time. Although leaks suggested that the surprise could occur, it still seemed too good to be confirmed at the time. However, the reality is that players are enjoying Halo Infinite's first season much sooner than was initially anticipated by the studio.

Considering that video game release dates are only ever pushed back rather than moved forward, the news came as a complete and utter surprise. Shooter fans had just finished playing Call of Duty: Vanguard and were anticipating the full release of Battlefield 2042 when this happened. If you had a strict plan for dealing with all of the games that were released this holiday season, you could toss it in the fire right now.

Although releasing Halo Infinite early is a sweet thank you to fans for their support, it is also a logical business decision. It's the most devious power play a video game company has pulled since Sony's infamous "$299" mic drop at the 1995 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3).

It's impossible to believe.

Immediately before the surprise drop, Microsoft was in a precarious financial position. Halo Infinite was supposed to be the company's big holiday game, but the game's planned release date of December 8 wasn't ideal. Because of the December release date, the game would not be available in time for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, when many people shop for holiday gifts or look for bargains on video games. Games like Battlefield 2042 and Call of Duty: Vanguard would focus on sales events, putting those shooters in the spotlight as the holiday season approached. Even if Halo Infinite received positive reviews upon release, it would be a latecomer to the party.

Obtaining positive word-of-mouth would also be a significant challenge. As a result, December releases are often overlooked for nominations for Game of the Year, as many websites publish their lists by the end of November. While Digital Trends intended to postpone making our game of the Year selection until we had completed Halo, others would likely have ruled it out of contention and saved it for their 2022 lists. Similarly, like Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, the game would be disqualified for this year's Game Awards and instead deemed for the following year's show. Any critical acclaim would arrive late, making it difficult for Microsoft to capitalize on the situation as the holiday season approaches.

Microsoft has rewritten the rules of the game by removing the multiplayer mode so early. While the game hasn't been released in its entirety (single-player is still on the way in December), the discussion surrounding it has gotten off to a rousing start. In addition, players will begin posting clips all over social media, it will dominate Twitch charts, and media outlets will begin distributing impressions much earlier than anticipated (ourselves included). And all of this will take place before people begin to compile their holiday wish lists for their loved ones.

It's a shocking move and one that could cause consternation among the competition. Although Battlefield 2042 was supposed to be the most high-profile game launching this month (especially after tepid Call of Duty: Vanguard reviews), Halo Infinite just crashed a Warthog full of banana peels onto a clear runway. Now it'll have to compete for attention with the most popular shooter of the year — one that's ultimately free to play and features an element of surprise in its gameplay mechanics.

Halo Infinite isn't longer at risk of becoming lost in the crowd; instead, it is the competition that should be concerned.

A sneaky beta

The clever use of the "beta" label is the most deceiving aspect of the entire early launch strategy. Fans cannot currently play the final version of Halo Infinite because it is not yet available. The multiplayer mode is being referred to as a "beta" by Microsoft as a marketing strategy. This provides the company with a significant amount of flexibility. When players are aware that they are playing a non-final version of a game, they are more likely to overlook any technical difficulties. When Battlefield 2042 is released in its entirety later this week, EA will not enjoy the same level of goodwill. Early access players have already begun to "review bomb" the game after experiencing stability issues in a game that they paid $60 or more for.

What remains to be seen is whether or not the multiplayer mode will be released from beta by the time the game's release date arrives shortly. There's a good chance that Microsoft will leave the label on the game, which would be an admission that the long-delayed title was still not ready for release. Fans would have been outraged if Microsoft had released the multiplayer in its entirety on December 8 instead of as a beta. The company would be scrutinized for releasing a game that was not finished (it will already lack campaign co-op and Forge mode at launch, which has drawn criticism from fans). Instead, fans are delighted that they will see it a few weeks earlier than expected.

In video games, communication is everything, and Microsoft appears to be acutely aware of this. As a result of positioning the game's launch as a "gift," players will approach the game in a very different manner than they will have in December. Microsoft now appears to be a nice guy who thoughtfully surprises fans, rather than a giant corporation rushing out a game to boost it's fourth-quarter earning power at any cost, as was the case previously. It's a devilishly intelligent move that can transform the way gaming companies roll out their games.

I'm not sure if this is beneficial to players in the long run, but that isn't important at the time being. Microsoft has delivered a rare and unexpected shock in an industry that is typically predictably predictable. These rule-breaking power plays are rare, but they tend to be watershed moments for the industry when they do occur. Consider yourself warned if the Xbox One S becomes the hottest console this holiday season and the PlayStation 5 falls behind.

The multiplayer mode in Halo Infinite is now available for download and play on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. Starting on December 8, the whole game, including its single-player mode, will be available for purchase.