After being notably absent from Xbox’s Gamescom showcase yesterday, a Halo Infinite listing on the Microsoft Store has popped up with a release date attached. First spotted by Italian outlet Aggiornamenti Lumia, the leak seems to show that the long-awaited next entry in the Halo franchise will launch on December 8, lining up with developer 343 Industries’ promise that the game would launch this holiday season.
The release date is expected to get an official announcement at Gamescom’s Opening Night Live stream later today. Halo Infinite did not show up on Microsoft’s dedicated Gamescom stream yesterday, which initially had fans concerned. “No Halo” was a trending topic on Twitter following the show.
However, when Halo Infinite launches, it won’t be the full package that fans of the franchise have come to expect. In a recent developer update, the game’s creative head, Joseph Staten, announced that Infinite would launch without two key features for any Halo title: Forge and campaign co-op.
“Unfortunately, as we focused the team for shutdown and really focused on a quality experience for launch, we made the really tough decision to delay shipping campaign co-op for launch,” said Staten. “And we also made the tough call to delay shipping forge past launch as well.”
Halo Infinite‘s development has been rocky. The game was initially supposed to launch alongside the Xbox Series X/S last year, but was delayed in August 2020. Staten, a Bungie veteran who worked on the first three Halo titles, was then brought on to helm the project.
During its extra time in development, though, things seem to have paid off. Halo Infinite recently had a technical preview of its free-to-play multiplayer, and while its performance didn’t always hold up, players were impressed nonetheless.
If the leak is true, Halo Infinite will launch on Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC on December 8.
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