halo Infinite
Credit: MicrosoftIt’s a big decision to delay a game, and it’s an even bigger decision when it’s a game like Halo Infinite. The latest iteration in Microsoft MSFT 's most valuable Xbox exclusive was meant to be the centerpiece of the launch of the Xbox Series X, and presumably the Xbox Series S. But one underwhelming reveal and we assume some tense meetings later, and Microsoft decided to delay it into 2021. Probably the right move, but one that makes for a big shift in the launch of the new consoles this fall. And it’s a shift that favors Sony and PS5.
The thing is, despite Sony’s incredibly ability to put together a games showcase, it doesn’t have much in the way of an exclusive launch lineup for the PS5 either. It’s biggest first-party title for the holiday season is Spider-Man: Mile Morales, which looks cool, but is really just an iteration of a PS4 game souped up for the PS5. The major announcement in its PS5 showcase was Horizon: Forbidden West, but that’s dated for 2021.
This is more or less how most console launches go. The Xbox One and PS4 were by the book on this one: we had things like Ryse: Son of Rome on Xbox One and Killzone: Shadow Fall on PS4, neither of which were all that much to write home about, but did their jobs by showing up and being on the new consoles. The Nintendo Switch was a bit of an outlier, launching with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and reaping the rewards.
The Xbox Series X (and probably S) was originally going to lean towards the Switch model. Halo Infinite was poised to be a major launch title that was set to give Microsoft some significant chatter and momentum, even if it wasn’t exclusive to next-gen consoles. Combine that with Game Pass—new consoles will presumably get a 3-month game pass trial—and you’ve got the equivalent of a major pack-in title.
I’m not sure that would have changed the calculus in a grand way: Sony was already set up to succeed in the fall. The sort of momentum that you get from dominating a console generation added to the fact that players will be less likely to jump ship thanks to backwards compatibility makes the PS5 a rough competitor. But the fact that Microsoft had a major first-party exclusive to hock would have given it a bigger platform to stand on.
Now, that’s not the case anymore. PlayStation will have Miles Morales, and Sony’s been hyping Godfall a lot. But the major games of the fall are third-party and cross-gen, and neither console will have anything that can come close to standing up to something like Cyberpunk 2077 or Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, assuming both games hit their release dates.
And so, in that situation, advantage definitely goes to Sony. Game Pass is a genuinely exciting service that I think makes the case for Microsoft in this generation or the next, but at this point its clear that Microsoft would need some serious flash to take attention away from Sony’s spaceship white console, at least in the near-term. That’s a whole lot harder to do without Halo
The Link LonkAugust 14, 2020 at 11:48PM
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