Halo Infinite Graphics Will Get "Better And Better" Leading Up To Launch, Says Microsoft

During the Xbox Games Event this week we got our first look at Halo Infinite, the long in-development sequel to the most recognizable Xbox franchise. Since then it's come under fire for not looking as visually impressive as fans expected, especially after 343 Industries shared some poor official screenshots, but there might still be time to change that.

That's according to Xbox marking general manager Aaron Greenberg, who spoke to Inside Gaming about the gameplay reveal. Greenberg stressed that the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has made development challenging while also pointing out that the 4K version of the gameplay uploaded after the stream showed off the game a lot better.

"Listen, we're in the middle of a global pandemic," Greenberg explained. "It's July, we're far from [launch in] Holiday, you're seeing a work-in-progress game."

"Go back and look at the game at 4K/60, we did that deliberately," he continued. "It's very hard to show the full power and graphic [sic] fidelity of what Xbox Series X will be able to deliver for you over a stream."

Greenberg explained that developer 343 Industries is compiling weekly builds for executives at Xbox to see, saying that he's been happy with the progress they're making. With the holiday release still a few months away, Greenberg is confident there's still time to polish the presentation up, even if he still thinks it looked great.

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"The other thing I'll just say is: it is a work-in-progress," Greenberg continued. "I can tell you, because we see build check-ins every week, and they make progress week after week, so between now and Holiday it's just going to get better and better."

"That said, I thought it looked great, I thought it sounded great," he concluded.

Halo Infinite certainly looks like it's taking design influences from earlier in Halo's history, moving away from the more realistic designs of Halo 4 and Halo 5: Guardians. The demo was also not reportedly running on the Xbox Series X, with PCGamesN reporting that the demo was instead captured on a PC with a target specification like that of the next-gen console.

There's no question though that Halo Infinite has certainly divided its audience, with Microsoft likely not expecting to be defensive about its anticipated sequel so soon after its big reveal. That's especially so given its plans to have Halo Infinite be the single platform for the future of the franchise for the next ten years, as Xbox moves away from standalone sequels.