Halo Infinite was briefly showcased at E3 2019 with a story trailer that depicted a new character stranded in space until none other than Master Chief showed up right outside his spaceship.
Sadly, 343 Industries didn't provide any new details about the game itself during the Los Angeles event. However, Head of Xbox Game Studios Matt Booty recently spoke on the Game Informer show (which you can download or just play right here) to provide a few more tidbits about Halo Infinite which are sure to leave fans speculating.
I think the first thing that is just very cool about where that game is headed is how they're thinking about expanding the world, right? I won't go so far as to say sandbox because you bring up sandbox and people sort of overload that term with a lot of other things. But what the team is doing to build a bigger universe and a bigger set of gameplay scenarios, and just more things to explore, is awesome. And it's just like the things are working on are really cool. The second thing is just as they bring the Slipspace engine up to date with where we're at, in terms of, you know, graphics these days, there's just some cool stuff design wise, it's been really cool to see them get back to some of the shape language and design language of some of the earlier Halos. You know, there could be said that Halo when you get into Halo five, maybe it was getting a little busy, design wise and it's cool to just see that. At once, Halo infinite feels more modern and cleaner. But also I think there are stronger echoes back to the roots of Halo. And it's really cool to see that stuff.
To boil it down, I would actually say Halo Infinite is visually impressive and more expansive.
Booty seems to be careful not to give the idea that Halo Infinite could be defined as sandbox or open world, but it does sound like the gameplay experience will be broader and more varied than it has been in previous franchise entries.
Halo Infinite will be a cross-generation game when it lands on Holiday 2020 on the next Xbox, PC and even Xbox One, with franchise director Frank O'Connor assuring Xbox One owners that they won't be treated as second-class citizens since Halo Infinite will look and play fantastically even on the older console.