Halo: Infinite is "more expansive" and gets back to "some of the earlier Halos," Xbox Studios boss says

Halo Infinite E3 2019 trailer
(Image credit: Microsoft)

The creators of Halo: Infinite are calling it a "spiritual reboot" for the series, but what does that actually mean for how it plays? The game's first proper trailer was heavy with story teases and light on gameplay details. Thankfully, Xbox Studios head Matt Booty gave some perspective on where Halo: Infinite's taking the series in a new interview.

As the name suggests, Halo: Infinite is aiming to be bigger than anything else in the series. That could have you thinking "open world", but Booty is cautious about throwing those kinds of terms around when Game Informer asks him what has most struck him about the game so far.

"It is a great part of my job to be able to work with [343 Industries], and get previews of things," Booty says. "I think the first thing that is just very cool in where that game is headed, is how they're thinking about expanding the world. I won't go so far as to say 'sandbox', because you bring up sandbox and people sort of overload that term with a lot of other things. But what the team is doing to build a bigger universe and a bigger set of gameplay scenarios and just more things to explore, is awesome. The things they're working on are really cool."

(Image credit: Microsoft Xbox)

"The second thing is as they bring the Slipspace Engine up to date with where we're at in terms of graphics these days, there's just some cool stuff design wise. It's been really cool to see them get back to some of the shape language and design language of some of the earlier Halos. It could be said that when you get into Halo 5, maybe it was getting a little busy design wise. At once it feels more modern and more clean, but also I think there are stronger echoes back to the roots of Halo. And it's really cool to see that stuff."

Asked to condense that all down into bullet points, Booty offers "more expansive" and "visually impressive". Don't let that discourage you if you aren't planning on picking up Xbox Project Scarlett for a while. Though the game's set to be an early heavy hitter in Microsoft's next-gen lineup, the company says Halo: Infinite will still "look incredible" on Xbox One.

Find more to play in our list of upcoming Xbox One games.

CATEGORIES
Connor Sheridan

I got a BA in journalism from Central Michigan University - though the best education I received there was from CM Life, its student-run newspaper. Long before that, I started pursuing my degree in video games by bugging my older brother to let me play Zelda on the Super Nintendo. I've previously been a news intern for GameSpot, a news writer for CVG, and now I'm a staff writer here at GamesRadar.

Latest in Halo
Halo 3
Halo 3 streamers claim a world record by beating the game's near-impossible LASO challenge in only 4 hours without dying once
halo
Microsoft said "'Nah'" to the Halo x Doom crossover pitched for Amazon's Secret Level, but I'm crossing my fingers for Season 2
Last Spartan Standing
With Concord in the rearview, Halo Infinite dev is glad it's still kicking "in a climate where games can be shut down with little notice"
Master Chief holds a beaming energy sword in our first look at Project Foundry
Almost 100GB of classic Halo content has leaked online, including the 1999 demo from when the legendary FPS was in third person
Halo Wars promo image showing top-down RTS combat
Master Chief's absence from Halo Wars wasn't Bungie's fault, it was a move to make players "care about everybody else" in the RTS
Halo 2
The Halo 2 Arbiter mission that Bungie scrapped 21 years ago has been officially restored as a playable Master Chief Collection mod
Latest in News
Atomfall
Atomfall boss "very familiar" with Baldur's Gate 3 director's frustrations with publishers, as he recalls horror advice that games are "faster to make" if you "make fewer bugs"
The Rise of Skywalker
Despite those retirement reports, Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy is "very involved" in the Rey Star Wars movie, according to Daisy Ridley
Limbo
"You can't rewrite the past just because of a bad breakup": Legendary indie devs' feud is going public
BlizzCon
BlizzCon 2026 is official, and after missing 4 BlizzCons in 6 years, Blizzard aims to "meaningfully elevate" the event
Black Widow
Scarlett Johansson doubles down on never coming back as Black Widow: “Natasha is dead. She is dead. She’s dead. Okay?"
Image of the Blade Runner board game box
Rare Blade Runner board game prototype is being auctioned for over $500 but there’s a far cheaper way to bring the neo-noir classic to your tabletop