Halo Infinite's Xbox One Version Won't Be "Second-Class," Halo Boss Says

Halo Infinite is releasing in Holiday 2020 as a launch title for Microsoft’s new and more powerful next-generation console, Project Scarlett, as well as the standard Xbox One in addition to PC.

Halo boss Frank O’Connor spoke about this distributed release in an interview with YouTuber Blackmist523. O’Connor said the Halo development team worked alongside the hardware developers behind Scarlett to allow for the game to look and perform “amazingly” on the next-generation system.

That being said, O’Connor said people playing on the standard Xbox One (and presumably the Xbox One X) will still have a good experience. “The Xbox One is not going to be a second-class citizen. We’re building it so it plays and looks fantastic on Xbox One,” O’Connor said.

Halo Infinite is also launching for PC, on the same day it comes to consoles. That’s a big change for the series, as Microsoft never released the mainline instalments after Halo 2 on PC (though they are coming to PC now through The Master Chief Collection). The PC version of Halo Infinite might end up being the best version of Halo Infinite–provided your rig is beefy enough, O’Connor said.

Here are his full thoughts on the matter:

“Obviously the special citizen [for Halo Infinite] will be Scarlett, and we’ve worked with that hardware team to make sure the game shows up amazingly on it, and work with them to make sure that we know how to make sure the game look amazing on it, but it will be for Xbox One and it will look incredible. And it will also be for PC for the first time, day and date so that’s exciting for us too.

“That’s changed the way we develop and the way we think about things, but we are always shooting for the best possible hardware target. This time it’s going to be up to you to decide–is it going to be Scarlett or PC; it kind of depends on your PC at that point. But the Xbox One is not going to be a second-class citizen. We’re building it so it plays and looks fantastic on Xbox One, and then everything else is plus-plus-plus, but we’ve got a few tricks up our sleeves that we’re thinking about. “

Given the increased horsepower of Project Scarlett, and O’Connor’s statement that developer 343 Industries is developing toward the “best possible hardware target,” it remains to be seen if the standard Xbox One version will be limited in any capacities. Presumably the better hardware with Project Scarlett will allow the game on that platform to look and run better, but any other differences between the versions are unknown for now.

Also in the interview, O’Connor spoke briefly and at a high level about Halo Infinite’s story and how it is connected to the events of Halo 5: Guardians but also aims to be approachable to newcomers. O’Connor also talked about how while the E3 2019 Halo Infinite trailer did not show any new gameplay, it did introduce players to some of what to expect about how the game will look and feel at the start.

While Halo Infinite isn’t scheduled to release until Holiday 2020, a beta for the game will be held prior to release.