Halo Infinite could be adopting a content strategy similar to Fortnite, with 343 Industries looking to increase the game’s longevity by way of frequent content updates. New comments made by a media head at 343 Industries have suggested that Halo Infinite could adopt a Games as a Service business model, in order to adapt to an industry where players want new content more regularly.
Kiki Wolfkill, the head of Halo trans-media at 343, revealed plans for Halo Infinite during Fortune‘s Brainstorm Design conference. Discussing how to keep a modern audience engaged with a franchise like Halo, Wolfkill suggested that updating content was the key to retaining players’ attention.
“We have to be able to change content quickly,” Wolfkill said. “We can’t afford to wait three years every time we drop a new product and have it be a black box because the games kids are playing are changing every week.”
Halo Infinite could adopt Games as a Service model
This is seemingly a reference to Fortnite, which has managed to remain so popular largely as a result of Epic Games issuing big content updates more regularly than its competitors. With its blockbuster battle royale mode remaining in beta, Epic Games has managed to circumnavigate various rules typically enforced by platform holders like Sony and Microsoft when it comes to game updates.
As a result, Epic has been able to release incremental patches to the game that introduce new skins, items, and various other features, without being subjected to the testing required for full games.
The industry is shifting more towards Epic Games’ approach in this regard, with ongoing games or Games as a Service increasing in popularity as a result. According to Wolfkill, 343’s goal is to have “a set of rules that people can engage with and buy into for years to come,” indicating that the developer is also looking to explore this territory with Halo Infinite.
It’s no surprise that 343 is looking to modern methods for ways to increase Halo Infinite‘s life span. In recent years, we’ve seen publishers increasingly pivot towards games that can sustain them over an extended period of time, rather than putting out frequent sequels with limited monetization options.
As it currently stands, we don’t know a whole lot about Halo Infinite. 343 recently confirmed that the game would be heading to PC along with the Xbox One, and that it will come to Microsoft’s Game Pass subscription service.
343 head Bonnie Ross also revealed that the company previously looked at releasing Halo 5.5, a stopgap game similar to Halo 3: ODST. This was intended to fill the large gap between the release of Halo 5 and the upcoming Halo Infinite, though Wolfkill’s comments seem to suggest that the company is looking to produce a game that will enjoy many more years at the top than its predecessor.
