Halo Infinite Defers Co-op to Go Easy on Developers – Players Call It “Depressingly Pathetic”

After a strong start, Halo Infinite is increasingly struggling with problems. The long-awaited roadmap for Season 2 is not well received by players. The developers are delaying long-awaited features like co-op to prevent team overwork. But the fans are not satisfied with the explanation.

Halo Infinite is the flagship shooter for Microsoft and Xbox, but after a strong start, the game is losing more and more gamers. In particular, a lack of content is often chalked up to the game as a major negative point.

After 6 months of Season 1, Season 2 of Halo Infinite will be released on May 3rd. It is called “Lone Wolves” and brings new cosmetics as well as 2 new maps and 4 new game modes.

You can see it live in action in this trailer:

Roadmap for Season 2022 upset fans

What is to come? With the announcement of Season 2, developer 343 Industries also shared a roadmap for 2022. This lists some things that players are asking for urgently:

• Season 2 with new modes and maps
• Season 3 on November 8th, also with new modes and maps
• New items
• New story developments
• The forge, with which you can create your own maps and modes
• The long-awaited campaign co-op

Here you can see the roadmap for 2022 again in one picture.

What exactly annoys the fans? Although many important changes and innovations have been announced, something has caught the attention of fans.

Not only is Season 2 again 6 months long, which even journalists like Paul Tassi see as a big problem (via Twitter). Players are particularly upset that Forge and Co-op have been postponed again, indefinitely.

Developers want to “stay healthy”, players demand more content

How do the developers explain the shift? The developers explain this shift in a blog post with health concerns. The so-called crunch has been a big and far-reaching problem in the games industry for years.

Developers are forced to work long hours, directly or indirectly, which is why they overwork heavily. Their health and personal relationships suffer greatly under these circumstances – it has even resulted in the deaths of developers.

Instead, to avoid the crunch, 343 Industries wants to “take things slower now to stay sane and be able to work faster later” (via halowaypoint.com). As a result, popular features like co-op and the forge have been postponed again and indefinitely.

How are players reacting to this? Even if some fans understand, this explanation cannot convince all players by far. A reddit post on the roadmap was filled with negative comments, with complaints about the developers and mourning the development of the Halo franchise.

In a comment, which currently has an upvote plus of 780 votes, reddit user lehahex writes:

That’s depressingly pathetic. What a miserable time to be a Halo fan. To see such a colossal franchise fall so low and its corpse paraded around like a puppet.

lehahex up reddit

Other users hit a similar notch:

• “That’s now a running gag.”
• “What the hell is going on over there? What are these setbacks and failed promises.”
• “Unknown to most fans, the damaged ring represents the unfinished product of Halo Infinite.”
• “It must only be 2 people working in mom’s basement. I’m a solo developer and could make more content in the same amount of time.”

So the turbulent times around Halo Infinite seem to have no end. It will be exciting to see if these fan reactions will change the content strategy at 343 Industries.

A Battle Royale mode for Halo Infinie has also been rejected in the past. But insiders say there’s more to come.

Insiders say: The Halo Infinite, which is ailing on Steam and Xbox, is still getting a Battle Royale – it should be “special”.