Halo Infinite, the next installment in the popular shooter franchise and described as a “spiritual reboot” for the series, will make its way to E3 2019.
Bonnie Ross, the head of 343 Industries, sat down for an interview with IGN Unfiltered. One of the topics of discussion was the development of Halo Infinite, which is essentially Halo 6 as it will follow 2015’s Halo 5: Guardians.
Ross said that 343 Industries had “great learning moments” with their previous work on the franchise, including Halo: The Master Chief Collection, Halo 4‘s multiplayer mode, and three REQ Packs and free maps of Halo 5‘s multiplayer mode.
The team’s experience with the Halo franchise played a huge part in the development of Halo Infinite.
“We’re kind of calling it a ‘spiritual reboot,'” said Ross in the interview, “That’s kind of how we talk about it.”
What does the Halo franchise mean to 343 Industries? “It is about hope, and wonder, and heroism, and humanity, and community, and bringing a community together. That’s what that trailer is, and that’s what we want to do,” Ross explained, referring to the Halo Infinite teaser that Microsoft used to open its press briefing at E3 2018.
“We will join Master Chief on his greatest adventure yet to save humanity,” said Xbox head Phil Spencer then, without much detail about the game being revealed. A year later, at E3 2019, fans will finally know more about the highly anticipated title.
Ross revealed that Halo Infinite director Chris Lee will discuss more details about the game at the annual gaming event in June. What exactly Lee will talk about remains unknown, though Ross said that one of the topics will be the capabilities of the series’ new SlipSpace engine.
The confirmation that next Halo game will be at E3 2019 coincides with previous reports that it will be a launch title for the next-generation Xbox consoles, which are reportedly set to be unveiled at the event.
Microsoft is said to be working on two versions of the new Xbox, codenamed Anaconda and Lockhart and collectively known as Project Scarlett. Halo Infinite will likely play a huge part in the launch of the new Xbox consoles, which are said to have a release date in the fall of 2020.