Halo Infinite’s developer has denied claims TV show contributed to its delay

Halo Infinite’s developer has refuted claims that distractions caused by an in-development TV show contributed to the game’s delay.

The allegations were made in a report from Thurrott this week, which pointed to the production of the Halo TV series for ShowTime as “a significant distraction” for 343’s management.

In a statement provided to IGN, a 343 Industries spokesperson described Infinite and the TV show as “completely independent projects” whose development did not impact one another.

“343 Industries has a devoted transmedia team that is working with Showtime on the creation and production of the Halo TV show,” the spokesperson said.

“This group is separate from the Halo Infinite development team. These are two completely independent projects with dedicated teams and leadership that do not impact one another.”

343 did not comment on Thurrott’s other significant allegation, that an overreliance on external outsourcing had also contributed to the Series X’s title’s slip.

Outsourcing is very common for any AAA project as large as Halo, but according to Thurrott’s sources, 343 is creating even more content externally than usual.

“The coordination between the many different companies contributing to Infinite has been rough, at best,” it said.

“One person familiar with the company’s plans indicated that they believed the out-sourcing for Infinite was at a ratio higher than a typical studio undertakes during development which has caused significant headaches for cross-development collaboration.”

Microsoft confirmed that Halo Infinite had been delayed into next year earlier this month.

In a statement published on its website, developer 343 industries said that the decision to delay the game was motivated by “multiple factors” including the ongoing impact of COVID-19 on development.