With the whirlwind of rumors that Microsoft is planning to port high-profile Xbox exclusives to PS5, the future of Xbox’s iconic Halo series has been brought into question. While Xbox would certainly be losing its mascot, recent changes to Halo Infinite suggest the Xbox FPS needs PlayStation much more than you may think.
Xbox’s 343 Industries recently announced that Halo Infinite Season 5 would be its last, changing its approach to updating the FPS game while working on “new projects”. Despite the excellent updates to the game as of late, adding much-improved customization, more maps and modes, and even Firefight and Forge at long last, Halo Infinite has undoubtedly struggled. Infinite’s player-friendly approach to live-service, such as permanent battle passes, has been unsustainable on Xbox alone – though I can’t ignore that taking this long to reach its high point has done more harm than good.
As a result, we’ve seen Seasons swapped out for shorter Operations, which are much easier to monetize while also requiring less content. In addition, the in-game store prices have also increased.
Those aren’t the only issues though, as 343 moving onto its next Halo game is yet another move to improve the growth of Halo. After all, it’s harder to draw in new players to a three-year-old live-service than a brand-new Xbox game. Remember, Infinite multiplayer is also free-to-play (F2P), so it’s reliant on a large, passionate community that’s willing to spend money to support future content.
In other words, following three years of updates that finally resulted in Halo Infinite becoming my favorite Xbox exclusive in 2024, support is being curtailed – reminiscent of the disappointing death of EA’s Star Wars Battlefront 2.
However, I can’t help shaking the feeling that Infinite has been all but abandoned too soon. Yes, it’s clear Microsoft doesn’t see the value in supporting it as heavily as it has been, but Infinite is finally really good.
If the existing player base can’t support it, then perhaps introducing a whole new community to Halo is just what Infinite needs to keep seeing great new content. As a F2P multiplayer game, Halo Infinite has a great opportunity to onboard eager new players who have yet to experience the series first-hand.
Sure, Halo Infinite would be in a drastically different position now if it had a strong launch in 2021 – ironically even having the potential to bring PS5 players to Xbox – but porting the game to PS5 could give it a new lease on life. Infinite needs more players on a scale that can’t be found on Xbox anymore – not after discussion over Infinite has died down and Xbox fans are less reassured their system will endure than ever.
At this point, the idea of Xbox exclusives also seems to have lost almost all meaning. While Halo is arguably the Xbox franchise and it would feel like Xbox would be losing part of its identity, we’ve had Halo for 23 years. The franchise is no longer held in such a regard as it was years ago – unsurprisingly matching the decline of Xbox – so finally inviting PlayStation fans into the action shouldn’t be as heretical as it feels.
Obviously, it would be nice to trade Halo exclusivity for one of the many superb PS5 exclusives, like the promising Helldivers 2, though that’s unlikely to ever happen. Personally, I’d love to see Halo dominating the discussion once more, and unleashing the series from the ever-dwindling confines of Xbox hardware would do just that.
With head of Xbox Phil Spencer finally breaking his silence on the subject, we’ll be learning more about the future of Xbox very soon – and Halo could join these epic Xbox exclusives coming to PS5 for the first time ever.