It’s been a long time since Microsoft held their Xbox Series X Games Showcase to highlight some of the advancements in gaming that will be coming to their next gen system. Well, maybe it hasn’t been that long and maybe it’s only been about a week but in internet time it’s been years because internet time works similar to dog years. Personally, I enjoyed the showcase as I mentioned last week, even though it did fail to sell me on why I need to be a day one purchaser, although unfortunately I will still likely try to get my hands on one immediately. As opposed to E3, where post press conference, Phil Spencer and many other Xbox executives do the press rounds, things are slightly different this year as you know.

Instead of being able to find plenty of interviews to get more details regarding next gen from the sources you have come to expect, the task now becomes trying to find alternative sources now. This week Head of Xbox himself, Phil Spencer, took a minute out of his extremely busy life to be on the “Same Brain” podcast which is co-hosted by famous YouTube content creator iJustine. This is likely a thought out decision as Microsoft is trying to diversify their audience and reach new customers through channels. I have to assume that the majority of the Same Brain podcast audience is female as I can assume the audience for iJustine also skews towards females. A great strategy from Xbox to try to expand their audience and another example of how much thought Microsoft is applying to this generation.

Phil Spencer wasn’t the only person making appearances this week as we also are going to look at one of the most divisive subjects of the July Showcase and that would be Halo Infinite. I am not sure if I am in the minority but I enjoyed the tease that I saw from Halo Infinite as it opened the show last week but it was criticized for lack of visual fidelity and lack of multiplayer shown. This lead to many people speculating that the multiplayer component of the 343 developed game would not be ready for the launch of Halo Infinite. Members of 343 and Xbox cleared the air regarding many aspects of Halo Infinite including the visual fidelity, the multiplayer portion and more.

Phil Spencer Interview

Diving right into the Same Brain podcast and coming fresh off the XGS, Phil Spencer took time out of his busy life during a console launch year to talk all things Xbox. Feeling great about the presentation Microsoft just gave, one of the things Phil Spencer missed was having a live audience for some of the reveals but was very proud of how the team was able to uniquely orchestrate the event considering the current climate of the world.

Speaking on the current state of the world, there have been many people wondering if launching a console in 2020 is a good idea but we have seen record breaking sales with multiple games including Animal Crossing, TLOU2 and Ghost of Tsushima that make it evident than gaming is thriving right now. There is a very strong chance that many of these gamers who are playing during these quarantine times are lapsed gamers who may have rekindled their love for gaming, increasing the potential buyers for a next gen system. Inside sources even claim that Sony has nearly doubled their anticipated amount of PS5 based likely on data they have collected regarding how successful their gaming division has been since quarantine.

Phil Spencer talked about how people are looking to games during these times and that since the spring 270 million new friend connections have been made on Xbox Live. I’m sure Microsoft is very aware of the situation with regards to production of their next gen system and is likely increasing their supply if they have the means. He even mentioned that during the last earnings call, the CFO was asked about the launch of the next gen consoles, which made proud about how Xbox is situatued within the trillion dollar company. Almost no one can understand how long this has taken other than Phil who has been with Microsoft since before the days of Encarta, which if you were too young for that was an CD-ROM encyclopedia that was as fun as learning could get.

The interview also touched on the topic of GamePass, which marks a major shift in this consoles launch compared to past generations. In the past it has been all about check out what games you can purchase and play on your brand new system and this time around it’s check out the value that you get from GamePass. This was something that Phil emphasized during the interview was the sheer value that GamePass provides, especially during these challenging times for some. GamePass provides everyone the ability to play every game that was on display at the XGS. From the inception phase to now it has to feel great to see how far GamePass has come in such a short period of time and will hopefully only continue to get better. 

As expected the interview focused on Halo Infinte, and Phil being excited to have Halo launch with the Xbox Platform for the first time in nineteen years, which hasn’t happened since Halo: Combat Evolved launched on the original Xbox in 2001. Both the Xbox 360 and the Xbox One didn’t see a Halo entry until two years after launch. Phil talked about his time that he has spent playing the game thus far and remarked that 343 wanted to bring back the classic Halo feel. When fans of the series get their hands on the game it will feel like a “coming home” moment for the them he said.

Phil noted that the team has been building on the success of the Halo 5 multiplayer suite that was “critically well received” and how the team is taking that into consideration while continuing to iterate on things the community loved. The multiplayer portion of the game is being designed in collaboration with top Esports players as that is a very important aspect he noted and that the team is challenging themselves with the technical aspects of it.

Based upon what we were able to play with the MCC and Halo 5 including Warzone, if the team is being technically challenged, I have to assume that this means cross play between Xbox and PC, faster matchmaking as well as larger scales. I’m not sure if that means Battle Royale or if Halo is going to try to make a hybrid BR combined with their previous iteration Warzone or maybe even something along the lines of Firefight but on a massive scale. The options are endless but with the recent confirmation that the multiplayer will be free to play, it has to be assumed that this will be some massive mode that will hopefully draw people in and keep them coming back for seasons and Battle passes but that will be touched on in the next topic.

One of the more interesting aspects of the interview was when Phil was talking about things that haven’t been announced as of yet and this includes 120 FPS being an area that many developers are focusing on. This generation he mentioned how many teams wanted to have the feel of the game match the look of the game. 120 FPS sounds like it isn’t just regarding yet to be released titles as Phil did mention how amazed he has been with the work of the back compatibility tea and what they have been able to do without spoiling anything. Based on the timing of Phil saying this, it sounds like many of the backwards compatible games will be running at 120 FPS and will likely see other great benefits including HDR and 4K.

He ended the interview by saying that there is a lot more that the team at Xbox wants to share and without confirming a date he said it should be August, hopefully August. Based on the history so far for the Xbox reveals during their 20/20 initiative, this will likely be towards the end of the month and is likely lining up with the other rumour that in August, Microsoft was going to reveal Project Lockhart. Nothing overly groundbreaking during his interview on the podcast but I always enjoy listening to Phil Spencer give interviews as he tends to be candid as someone who understands not only the gaming side of things but also the business side of things. I am very much looking forward to what Xbox and Phil Spencer have to reveal next.

Halo Infinte

With only the slightest tease from a slice of the campaign, we were left hungry for more details about Halo Infinite, specifically the multiplayer aspect of the game which has been a pillar of the series since it launched in 2001. Sure, things have gotten much easier than setting up two xboxs, a system link cable, eight controllers and two televisions but the passion for the MP portion of Halo has always been a bright spot for the series.

At the showcase last week, we were told from 343 after the trailer that more MP details would be shared with us soon. Unfortunately, Microsoft and 343 probably weren’t expecting the details to be shard so soon, especially in the method that they were shared via a leak from a toy superstore as it revealed a few details regarding the game by accident before quickly removing them.

“The legendary Halo series returns with the most expansive master chief campaign yet and a groundbreaking free to play multiplayer experience. Enjoy up to 120 FPS and greatly reduced load times creating seamless gameplay with Xbox Series X” Although it was pulled down quickly, it wasn’t before enough people had noticed it and made it obvious that Xbox and the team at 343 needed to address it. The official halo Twitter confirmed in a post that said “Halo is for everyone. We can confirm Halo Infinite multiplayer will be free to play and will support 120FPSon Xbox Series X. More details will be shared later”

We already knew that Halo Infinite was going to be playable on GamePass on day one, but now we know that multiplayer will be free to play. This leads to a few thoughts with the first being what exactly will be free to play? The post on twitter from Halo or the leak from Smyths toys didn’t explicitly say what was free to play. Will it be the whole multiplayer suite or will it just be something along the lines of a battle royale?

Phil Spencer during his interview on the Same Brain podcast did mention that the team at 343 has been iterating on the success they have found with the other Halo games they have developed. Many years ago a member of 343 said that there would be no Battle Royale in Halo Infinite, but time has passed and free to play Battle Royales have shown a very successful method including Fortnite and Warzone with their inclusions of season and battle passes.

One of the biggest additions to Halo 5 was the new mode called Warzone, which would need a rebrand now with the mainstream success of Call of Duty and their BR mode. If in fact the team is iterating on the success of the past then it wouldn’t be a huge surprise to see 343 blend together aspects of Halo 5’s war zone mode with Battle Royale. One of the other major things that Phil said during the podcast was that likely August we would get more next gen details and I woudln’t be surprised if Halo Infinite had some type of drip feed every month between now and launch to get people excited for Halo Infinite. Also, in the post, there was finally tangible evidence of why you need to buy an Xbox Series X as it was specifically stated that it will run at 120 FPS on the XSX. Without actually saying the words this clearly means that Halo Infinite will be 60 FPS on Xbox One and Xbox One X.

On the more negative side of things, the team at 343 had to take to Halo Waypoint to clear the air and address some of the concerns that arose after the reveal at XGS. The blog post noted that while the team is hearing far more positive comments than negative ones they do want to discuss some of the concerns the minority may have. The two areas that the blog wanted to focus on was the criticisms Halo Infinite received regarding the overall art style and its visual fidelity.

Regarding the art style that 343 has decided to pursue, the team based it on their research and strong community feedback from Halo 4, Halo 5 and Halo Wars 2. This lead to the decision for 343 to “shift back towards the legacy aesthetics that defined the original trilogy. With Halo Infinite we’re returning to a more classic art style which was a key message going back to the very first reveal” Phrasing it this way makes it very clear that the team has made their intentions clear from the initial offerings.

Based on the feedback and anticipation that has been received, the team at 343 has made the right decision. One of the most recurring statements that has been said about Halo Infinite is that it looked like it was going back to its roots which is what fans have been asking for, at least for the past five years. To be honest, I saw a lot of negative feedback regarding the visual fidelity but I didn’t hear much with respect to the art style.

Visually, Halo Infinite drew ire of many gamers and critics. Even Digital Foundry did a fifteen minute piece on the graphics of Halo Infinite looking flat, although the site defended the visual fidelity by explaining that the flat look is from the decision to use real time lighting. When the gameplay takes place in direct light the models are substantially higher detailed. The video addressed a few of the other issues including shadows, pop ins and textures with the main culprit being designing the game across multiple generations.

The Waypoint blog is very aware of all of the criticism and tackled these comments head on by assuring the community that they know of the issues with many of them already being improved before the XGS as the Halo Infinite slice that we saw was still a very early build of the game. They also stated that they are taking the criticism in areas they weren’t already improving as constructive as they stated “the team is taking things very seriously”

In the age of gaming that we live in, it sounds like Halo Infinite will be constantly evolving and improving over the next 5-10 years, which leads to problems like this being solved sooner than later with advancements and new methods being discovered frequently. Halo Waypoint did more than enough to assure fans of Halo Infinite who are concerned by being open about the issues and being transparent with the fans.

343 industries went further than just discussing the criticism that has been placed upon them after the campaign reveal at XGS, they also answered a lot of questions about the series that fans had and yes they even addressed Craig, the Brute. It sounds like a multiplayer beta which has been a fairly common thing in the series might not happen this time around due to the complications of working from home during the pandemic. On a related note the demo that we saw will be playable sometime before or around launch which is nice to get your hands on it.

I am not as concerned about Halo Infinite as some might be at the moment with the knowledge that the demo that we saw was a work in progress and there is still plenty of time to go to add polish before the final product is due out in 3-5 months. I am very much looking forward to seeing Halo Infinite blend its past roots with modern influences as it tries to regain its stature as a must play game.

While on the subject of Halo criticism, one thing I greatly miss is the podcast that accompanied Halo 5 with Hunt The Truth. This podcast started about eight months before the launch of Halo 5, it helped build anticipation and was a great world building piece. It was also extremely well put together with help from the voices of Colbie Smulders and Keegan Michael Key. If you haven’t checked it out, its worth a listen and i’m still holding out hope for a new podcast to accompany the launch of Halo Infinite.