Halo's community director has spoken up to shut down rumors about Halo Infinite's release date. Retail listings recently suggested that the game was scheduled for release in Holiday 2021, which is later than some might have wanted, but Brian Jarrard told the Halo community in a tweet that such listings are not necessarily accurate.

　　"PSA: We haven't locked on [a] release date for Halo Infinite yet," he said. "Anything you see on a retail site is just placeholder / speculation."

　　PSA: We haven’t locked on release date for Halo Infinite yet. Anything you see on a retail site is just placeholder / speculation.

　　— Brian Jarrard (@ske7ch) September 24, 2020

　　Halo Infinite was originally lined up as a launch title for the Xbox Series X/S in November, but Microsoft pushed the game out to 2021 due in part to COVID-19 and the impact of working from home. The company has provided no indication yet as to when in 2021 the game may be released. As of now, it's still planned to come to Xbox One, as well. It will also support crossplay between all platforms, including PC. It's the first time a Halo game will be available on PC at the same time as it releases on consoles.

　　After the delay, Xbox boss Phil Spencer acknowledged that Microsoft considered releasing a portion of the game before the full thing to get Halo Infinite into fans' hands sooner. Funnily enough, this announcement came during an appearance on a talk show streamed in Animal Crossing on Nintendo Switch.

　　However, Microsoft did not move forward with that path. Microsoft wanted the full experience to be ready at launch. No Halo game has released piecemeal with the exception of The Master Chief Collection on PC. In that collection's case, individual games are launching one by one.

　　Halo Infinite's multiplayer element will be free, which is a big and exciting step for the series. Microsoft has not yet shown any gameplay for multiplayer, however, with the only footage we've seen so far focused on the campaign mode. It featured a Halo ring that closely resembled the one from the original game, but with much more freedom in how to tackle objectives. It also included a new grappling device. This gameplay footage was not exactly stunning, and Microsoft has promised that the graphics will get better.