343 Industries Responds To 'Halo Infinite' Graphics Criticism During Xbox Games Showcase

With many fans angrily criticizing what Xbox showed of “Halo Infinite” during the Xbox Games Showcase last week, developer 343 Industries has been getting a lot of hate online.

Most expected “Halo Infinite” to be the headliner since it has been pushed as the premier game on the Xbox Series X when Microsoft’s next-gen console is released later this year. However, ScreenRant notes that some of the enemies looked so low detail that they were estimated to have been ripped from past games in the series.

The entire industry knows the challenges of displaying games in full 4K on streams that reach only 1080p tops. What looks less than exciting on a stream can become something worth the hype when watched in a separate video at full quality.

343 Industries has already gone on the record that “Halo Infinite” is still very much in development, with some now-debunked rumors even stating that the multiplayer wasn't going to be available at launch. In spite of that, however, the showcase footage still rubbed many people the wrong way, and “Halo Infinite” didn’t look its best.

Alessio Palumbo of Wccftech attended a post-showcase Q&A session regarding “Halo Infinite,” and he brought back quotes detailing 343 studio head Chris Lee's reasoning for the poor showing. He recommends that fans disappointed in the stream should check out the 4K streaming assets, which showcase the game in "full fidelity."

Still, he echoes the message that the game is still "very much in development," and that “Halo Infinite” still needs a lot of polishing and finetuning in order to look its best when it comes out at some as-of-yet unrevealed date this holiday.

Lee continued that, even if the Xbox Games Showcase footage didn't capture the true graphical fidelity of “Halo Infinite,” it did showcase how it would run on Microsoft's newest console.

Even up to 4K resolutions, Lee promised that the game would run at a solid 60 frames per second with "more than 10 times the processing power per pixel" when compared to "Halo 5: Guardians."

ScreenRant reports that Lee also heaped praise on the music being composed by Curtis Schweitzer and Gareth Coker for “Halo Infinite,” saying that the upgrades to the audio engine will "surround the player in a much more realistic audio experience."

Though many who watched the Xbox Games Showcase had significantly higher hopes for “Halo Infinite” in terms of raw power, the reality might be that games aren’t going to be able to make the huge leaps that they used to in previous generations.

Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, and their partners have been forced instead to work on game design to try and generate hype. It might not be what the fans want, but given the current levels of gaming technology, there might not be any other way to go for now.