Update: Halo Devs Refute Notion That TV Show Is a 'Distraction' to Infinite Development - IGN
According to a new report, Halo Infinite's development has been mired by outsourcing issues and the "significant distraction" of the Halo TV series.
www.ign.com
A report has surfaced suggesting Halo Infinite's development and recent delay have been affected by outsourcing, with the upcoming Halo TV show also apparently a "significant distraction."
An investigative report into the "turbulent" development cycle of Halo Infinite from Thurrott alleges that a number of factors have contributed to the game's troubled development and eventual delay from Xbox Series X console launch into 2021.
One major factor in Infinite's delay supposedly stems from the fact that "a significant portion of the game is being outsourced to third-party contractors." This is standard practice in the games industry, especially in AAA, but in Infinite's case, the report suggests that the level of outsourcing has been unusually high, with "the coordination between the many different companies contributing to Infinite has been rough, at best."
Downgrade me if old.Thurrott's source claims that the outsourcing "was at a ratio higher than a typical studio undertakes during development," which has led to communication and collaboration headaches for 343 Industries. Apparently, the E3 2019 trailer for Halo Infinite was outsourced while the game was not in a playable state, which "over-sold expectations for Infinite's later demos." The report suggests that the marketing and engineering teams behind Halo Infinite "have been on two different planets," which has also led to issues in messaging the game.