343 Explains Halo Infinite Co-op Delay

Halo fans may be eagerly awaiting the release of Infinite co-op, Campaign, and Forge. Although, 343 has now given fans an explanation as to why they could be in for a long wait. 

The Halo Infinite multiplayer arrived with a splash on November 15 - much to the surprise of delighted fans. Sadly, the same can't be said for Campaign, as developer 343 announced that the co-op mode had been delayed alongside Forge.

Now 343 boss and Head Of Creative for Infinite, Joseph Staten, has spoken out about the reasons for the delay and why he is "proud" of the team's decision to push back the game's release. 

Halo Infinite Co-op: Why Was It Delayed?

In an interview with IGN, Staten explained why 343 and Xbox decided to make the "very, very hard" decision to delay the Campaign and Forge co-ops: "I work on Halo but I'm still a Halo fan. And campaign co-op is essential to the experience. Playing Halo with your friends is playing Halo, whether it's multiplayer or campaign [...] it shows the commitment of the studio--even when it's challenging, even when it hurts--to only ship experiences when they are ready.

Staten continued that it's important to "only ship quality experiences" and added that it's "so important for any franchise, but certainly a franchise like Halo that's been around for 20 years." While some may be disappointed by the news, it's clear that Halo players were at the heart of the decision.

Staten concluded, "If we don't maintain that high bar, if we don't commit ourselves to excellence, and commit ourselves to every time we launch something to delighting our customers, living up to our expectations, ideally exceeding our expectations, I don't think we're doing this job right. And the simple truth was co-op just wasn't ready. And we decided to prioritize our efforts in other areas."

Halo Infinite Co-op: When's It Coming?

There is still no specific date as to when both Campaign and Forge will be released, so we can only speculate. However, as we know 343 is aiming to publish Campaign with Season 2 and Forge with Season 3, the earliest we can expect to see the co-op features in May 2022. We did get some fresh information in an explosive trailer for Campaign, which included details about the story and new enemy types.

Staten didn't go into further detail, but he did prove how much of a veteran Halo fan he is. When asked which Halo game is his favourite, Staten said: "Halo 3: ODST is my favourite, and not just because I was helping to lead that project, but for me it was... any game developers that are watching will understand this.

"It was the game that we made in the most stable technology base that we'd ever had. You know, it was Halo 3 ODST. It was built in the Halo 3 engine, very few feature changes, so as almost entirely a content exercise." With the Halo Infinite multiplayer already being a massive hit and trouncing the likes of Battlefield 2042 and Call of Duty: Vanguard, here's hoping co-op is just as much of a success.