Halo: Infinite now has three third-party developers working on it: Sperasoft, Skybox Labs, and the newly announced Certain Affinity.
Today Certain Affinity announced that it's helping 343i make Halo: Infinite, and is now the third team to assist with the ambitious project. Certain Affinity, whose efforts with Halo stretch all the way back to Halo 2's map packs, has been working on Halo: Infinite since December 2019. The team is presumably working on Infinite's online multiplayer.
"Halo Infinite has huge long-term ambitions, while also giving a respectful nod to the franchise's past. This is an exciting combination. Given our own deep roots and long-time connections to the series, we couldn't be more excited to help 343 realize this vision," said Certain Affinity president Max Hoberman.
Given Halo: Infinite's massive scope it's great to see many studios helping out. However, the bigger and more ambitious games get, the bigger the teams get and the more complex development can become. Halo: Infinite isn't just a game, but a platform for future Halo games, and will be the springboard for the next 10 years of Halo.
343i confirms numbered Halo sequels are going away and Halo: Infinite will be the future of the franchise. Infinite will have a huge open-ended campaign that's not unlike a giant FPS-RPG complemented with free-to-play online multiplayer.
Right now there are three studios helping 343 Industries make Halo: Infinite, including:
- Skybox Labs - Teamed up with 343i in 2018, presumably will work on Forge.
- Sperasoft -Teamed up with 343i in August 2020, will help with porting Infinite across multiple Xbox platforms.
- Certain Affinity - Starting working with 343i in December 2019, will help multiplayer.
Halo: Infinite is still set to release in 2021 for Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC. It hasn't been delayed to 2022 and the Xbox One version is still planned.