Microsoft has finally announced that the Xbox Series X will launch in November 2020. The announcement of the next-gen Xbox’s release month follows shortly after 343 Industries’ development update which revealed that Halo Infinite’s release is delayed to 2021.
According to 343 Industries, more development time is needed as operations were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Read 343’s full statement here:
“We have made the difficult decision to shift our release to 2021 to ensure the team has adequate time to deliver a Halo game experience that meets our vision.
The decision to shift our release is the result of multiple factors that have contributed to development challenges, including the ongoing COVID-related impacts affecting us all this year. I want to acknowledge the hard work from our team at 343 Industries, who have remained committed to making a great game and finding solutions to development challenges. However, it is not sustainable for the well-being of our team or the overall success of the game to ship it this holiday.
We know this will be disappointing to many of you and we all share in that sentiment. The passion and support the community has shown over the years has been incredible and inspiring. We wanted nothing more than to play our game with the community this holiday. The extra time will let us finish the critical work necessary to deliver the most ambitious Halo game ever at the quality we know our fans expect.
Thank you for your support and understanding.”
Halo Infinite Development Update pic.twitter.com/TFZvXhRN9f
— Halo (@Halo) August 11, 2020
The fact that Halo Infinite will not release during the Series X launch is a big blow to the next-gen Xbox. After all, Infinite was billed as the flagship game of the Xbox Series X.
In spite of this though, Microsoft has highlighted in its announcement that there will still be lots of Series X titles to play during launch, as the console will be backwards compatible with Xbox, Xbox 360, and Xbox One games. Plus, there will also be a wide range of third party titles releasing this November that are optimized for Series X.
While we now know that the Series X will release in November, there’s no word yet on a price tag for the console.
In related news, a cheaper Xbox Series S model has been all but confirmed recently.