(Paris) Twenty years after the first Halo, Microsoft hopes to boost sales of its latest generation of Xbox consoles and revitalize its military science fiction series, with the release of a new episode on Wednesday.
Playable on consoles and PC, Halo Infinite returns to the adventures of Master Chief, always equipped with his futuristic armor and his panoply of heavy weapons, and engaged in an interstellar conflict taking place at the 26e century.
This eagerly awaited opus is of crucial importance for “the entire Xbox ecosystem”, underlines Mat Piscatella of the research firm NPD Group.
“The output is important for the new consoles, but not only”, indicates this specialist in the sector, who recalls that Microsoft is also targeting the huge community of players using on-demand gaming services through remote computing.
The American giant is counting on Halo Infinite to make up part of its delay with Sony, the two groups having marketed their most recent consoles a few days apart in November 2020.
According to figures from Ampere Analysis, the Japanese manufacturer had sold 12.8 million PlayStation 5s at the end of September, almost double the 6.7 million Xbox Series X and S sold on the same date.
Nintendo’s Switch, released in 2017, had sold nearly 90 million copies.
Delays
Initially planned for the launch of the latest Xboxes, Halo Infinite, developed by the studio 343 Industries, has seen its release repeatedly postponed.
In question, delays related to the pandemic, but also the salvo of negative comments and taunts after the publication, in July 2020, of a video of the game with graphics considered poor by many players.
The studio 343 Industries has revised its copy and surprised fans by offering a free trial version on November 15, the anniversary of the release of the first Xbox and Halo: Combat Evolved.
“My first impression is that the game is both close and very different from the others Halo, which for me is the perfect balance, ”describes Jenn, a professional player known by the pseudonym Queen x3.
Like many “streamers” of Twitch and game broadcasting platforms, this 28-year-old American particularly appreciates the competitive aspect of the series.
“Very few people are able to grab a controller and be super strong the first time,” she describes.
Virtual museum
Inseparable from Microsoft’s first consumer console, Halo has won over tens of millions of followers and revolutionized the first-person shooter genre.
Joshua “Mash” Mashlan, who coaches professional players of Halo for esports tournaments, discovered the saga with the second opus, released in 2004.
” When Halo 2 came out, there were pubs on the signs in Times Square and people were lining up in the street, ”recalls the 28-year-old.
All games combined, the series has sold 81 million copies, Microsoft reported on November 15.
On the day of its release, the beta version of Halo Infinite has brought together more than 270,000 players simultaneously, according to the SteamDB database.
The license’s popularity has extended far beyond video game boundaries, with variations in novels, comics, films and a developing TV series co-produced by Steven Spielberg.
To celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the Xbox and Halo, Microsoft has opened a virtual museum, which traces the major dates of its home consoles.
By clicking on the Master Chief figurine, visitors access a room allowing them to see the visual evolution of the main character of the saga through the different episodes.