Halo Infinite Will Include Open-World

The Xbox Games Showcase came out swinging. Xbox’s celebration of its upcoming projects kicked off with the company’s crown jewel: Halo Infinite. Instead of a mere cinematic trailer, 343 Industries and Xbox gave players roughly ten minutes of intense gameplay. The opening screen flashed “Demo”, so it is safe to assume that players will be able to test out Halo Infinite before the game launches later this year.

Halo’s demo looked sharp and movements were fluid. But we knew that would be the case; it’s Halo after all. Rather, the biggest surprise was the reveal that Halo Infinite would feature an open-world! Quickly into the demo, Master Chief pulled up a map of the Halo Ring. It featured highlighted markers and gave the option to set waypoints.

How Open-World Is Halo Infinite?

Don’t get too carried away with this information. It is not clear if the game will be akin to other AAA open-world games. There weren’t any signs of side missions and it isn’t clear if the starting map will be Halo Infinite’s only playable location. That said, the trailer did announce that the Ring in Halo Infinite will be several times larger than any other Ring to date and the rumored grappling hook was confirmed.

Whether the game’s open-world presents something like The Witcher 3 or something entirely original, there is no denying that Infinite looks amazing. 343 Industries confirmed that the game will run at 60 frames per second and the demo’s effortless transitions were evidence of this. Furthermore, Xbox and Halo Infinite reinforced their commitment to players by reiterating that the game would be coming to Xbox Game Pass upon its launch.

Sadly, no launch date was announced. It seems that Xbox and PlayStation are still playing console launch chicken. Regardless, Holiday 2020 is a lot closer than it sounds. We’ll all be playing the newest Halo sooner than we realize. In a final note, Halo Infinite did confirm that it will feature a multiplayer mode. Though, they did not hint at a battle royale mode.