Microsoft was never “reliant on” Halo Infinite for Xbox Series X launch
The console has “thousands of games” already.
Paolo Sirio 
Image via Microsoft
Halo Infinite was supposed to be the big Xbox Series X exclusive to be released alongside the console on November 10, 2020, but it was abruptly delayed after disappointing gameplay reveal. However, Microsoft has shared it wasn’t relying on Halo Infinite alone to make its launch lineup of content and services appealing to the new Xbox customers.
“Having Halo at our launch would have been tremendous,” Xbox spokesperson Cindy Walker told The New York Times. At any rate, “we are not reliant on massive exclusive titles to drive console adoption,” Walker added.
The company is sure that “our players will have thousands of games from four generations of Xbox available to play on launch day,” and that this will be enough to convince them to make the jump.
This has been the position company-wise, pointing everything on Xbox Game Pass and the power of backwards compatibility, which is entirely opposite to Sony continuously pushing on exclusive games.
As for Halo Infinite, there were multiple reasons behind the delay to 2021, and rumors claimed it was due to the TV show distraction and the excessive, not so well coordinated outsourcing.
Talking about the delay, the head of Xbox, Phil Spencer, revealed that Microsoft considered a staggered release, but that the option was ditched as it didn’t feel like a proper Halo launch.
Without the latest Master Chief adventure, Xbox Series X is now releasing without any major exclusive title, with the sole exception being Gears Tactics, a port from PC.
Other exclusive games from third-party developers include The Medium and Scorn, but those have not been assigned release date yet.
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