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Developer Sperasoft joins Halo Infinite development effort.

Mr Moose

Member
“It’s an honor to contribute to the most famous FPS series in the world and to support the next generation of the Halo franchise."

Oh damn, they are working on the next Call of Duty, too?

You totally called it huh? They've been helping since 2019, lol. Won't change much, what you saw is what you're getting.

Oh no :messenger_weary:
 

DeaDPo0L84

Member
So they need a whole team to design Craig's penis?

Wow I wonder why they need that in the game.

Some Master Chief on Craig action since he can't do anything with Cortana.

Master Chief: I'm sorry Cortana we have to break up.

Cortana: But why chief?

Master Chief: They are bringing a team in to design Craig's penis so he can pleasure me.

Cortana: :messenger_loudly_crying: :messenger_loudly_crying: :messenger_loudly_crying:

Seems like every game needs a sex scene in it.......

This is a terrible and embarrassing attempt at being funny, are you 12?
 

jimbojim

Banned

From article to save you a click...

Developer Sperasoft
has this week announced it’s joining forces with 343 Industries in the development of Halo Infinite. The anticipated upcoming shooter is slated to launch later this year in tandem with Microsoft’s next-generation Xbox Series X console, and the Sperasoft has been drafted in to contribute across “multiple development mandates, developing components of the game and experience.”

Denis Larkin, Chief Commercial Officer at Sperasoft, said of today’s announcement:

“It’s an honor to contribute to the most famous FPS series in the world and to support the next generation of the Halo franchise. Our development teams are thrilled with our 343 Industries collaboration on the anticipated upcoming release: Halo Infinite”.

Sperasoft is something of a co-development specialist, having also contributed to major AAA projects such as Rainbow Six Siege, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, and currently, Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla.

During the last 16 years, Sperasoft has grown to over 600 developers, and opened 4 offices around the world.

The timing of today’s news is interesting when one considers that Halo: Infinite’s big gaming reveal endured a torrent of backlash following Microsoft’s recent Xbox Series X presentation. It was so severe that 343 Industries felt it necessary to acknowledged it had “work to do” in order to sharpen up the appearance of Halo: Infinite.

Whether 343 Industries has brought Sperasoft on board specifically to that end or if the timing of today’s announcement is purely coincidental is unclear.


Sorry, but what is this? They already helping 343i in development since July 2019


 
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This could be a great move or it could be a disaster.
 

Greeno

Member
I think Sperasoft was brought back to work on visuals. They were supposedly working on level design and motion capture last year.
 

Matsuchezz

Member
Sperasoft will create the port to Switch sweet!! Halo infinite will be a patched half-assed game. There is no love for the franchise 434i are not qualified to handle this, they should can the game and start over with a different studio.
 
1. This isn't uncommon in AAA video game development.
2. They've been on the project much longer.
3. Would you prefer less help to get Halo Infinite up to snuff?


1. Certainly but announcing a partnership only months prior to launch is terrible marketing and consumer communication, especially just after your game revealed itself.

2. Why doesn't the press release say as much? Perhaps a little detail more than "development mandates". Why bother with a press release with this PR garbage.

3. Depends, there's a ton of context missing, work/project history missing and throwing more people at a problem late in the game is never a good sign in development. In terms of launch window it's probably a bad move. In terms of GaaS post launch for the next 12 months it's a good move.
 

Amiga

Member
This confirms the complaints about 343i relying on contractors and not having enough full time developers on the team.
 

onQ123

Member
This shows that they are listening & will try harder to give people a better game , can't be mad at that.
 

Graciaus

Member
The only good thing about the game is I don't have to buy another system if I want to try it. Microsoft and 343 stole money from me when I bought an Xbox one when mcc launched and sold me a game that didn't work for years. Still salty about this years later. Also since it's coming out on pc fans might fix 343s mistakes.
 

ANIMAL1975

Member
Sorry, but what is this? They already helping 343i in development since July 2019


This shows that they are listening & will try harder to give people a better game , can't be mad at that.
Lol they are listening
This shows that they are fuck ups, and didn't gave Halo to a proper team after Bungie jump the ship.
 

jigglet

Banned
It would usually take 4 months for a big team to step into a project this far in and get comfortable with the code base such that every check in isn't a complete disaster.
 

Bar81

Member
What I still can't comprehend is how anyone outside 343 could have looked at this trash mid year 2020 and been like "it looks good - minds are going to be blown!".

Why did MS need to be publicly embarrassed before they admitted reality?

Management at all levels should be looking over their shoulders if anyone left in MS upper ranks still cares about the Halo franchise. 343 is clearly getting worse at making Halo games as time goes on.
 
I still have hope the game will look better than what they have shown.
I do agree that 343i might not be the right fit for Halo.
 
I’m wondering what was going on with $500 million and 5 years later? I mean most, if any games get a budget that high and all that development time. Then they have to receive assistance. Mismanagement? Lack of talent? Confusion? Lack of focus? Incompetence? Lack of time? Who knows?

To be brutally honest, if the game isn’t in a satisfactory state by 3 months, they should just delay it. Better to delay the game to eventually get it where it needs to be than to rush it out and leave a bad impression on the slightly tarnished Series X imo.
 
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ANIMAL1975

Member
Could you elaborate please? Didn't understand your lol
You have a team responsible for the the Xbox flagship Halo series, that needs a outside developer to help making or ending the game, whatever.
On the other side for comparison, you have per example Santa Monica, the studio that makes GOW series _ one of Playstations flagship titles... and that, at the same time, outsources teams to help 3rd party devs making games for ps4.
Where is the lol?
 

Compsiox

Banned
They could be developing some of the dlc content that will be added to the game over time like with Siege.
 

onQ123

Member
Could you elaborate please? Didn't understand your lol
You have a team responsible for the the Xbox flagship Halo series, that needs a outside developer to help making or ending the game, whatever.
On the other side for comparison, you have per example Santa Monica, the studio that makes GOW series _ one of Playstations flagship titles... and that, at the same time, outsources teams to help 3rd party devs making games for ps4.
Where is the lol?

What you said was funny so I laughed nothing else to it
 

Tschumi

Member
Wait. Listen.

....

Can you hear that?

The echoing screech of tyres as a giant black humvee somewhere in the US, with "12Ts and never floppy" written on the side, executes an abrupt, wrenching turn to avoid a car crash.
 
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MrFunSocks

Banned
I don't think they were trying to make it crossgen. I think it was supposed to only come out for the Xbox One.
You're fighting a losing battle trying to make people understand this.

The game IS and Xbox One game. It's not in any way, shape, or form, an Xbox Series X game. In the same way that Gears of War 5 isn't a Xbox One X game, rather a Xbox One game that has an Xbox One X update available, Infinite is an Xbox One game that will have an Xbox Series X update available.
 

Andodalf

Banned
This is quite common for AAA games. It’s not really indicative of anything other than this being a AAA title
 

ZehDon

Member
1. Certainly but announcing a partnership only months prior to launch is terrible marketing and consumer communication, especially just after your game revealed itself.

2. Why doesn't the press release say as much? Perhaps a little detail more than "development mandates". Why bother with a press release with this PR garbage.

3. Depends, there's a ton of context missing, work/project history missing and throwing more people at a problem late in the game is never a good sign in development. In terms of launch window it's probably a bad move. In terms of GaaS post launch for the next 12 months it's a good move.
1. Why would you think this? "We're having additional experienced developers help us polish the game ready for launch". Only in video games could this be seen as a bad thing. "Oh, you need more people to make the game as good as I want it to be? Worst. Game. Ever."
2. Because people, like the ones in this thread, will read too much into anything... as they have already. So, of course they'd make it public. Rip the band aid off, control the narrative, move on.
3. Why isn't it a good sign? Game development teams often ramp up enormously, with the bulk employed at the end of the project in order to finalise it. This is literally the standard practice for the entire Industry. The last push to release is often a massive, herculean effort involving unhealthy levels of crunch. Perhaps the additional developers will keep crunch to sane levels? Why would this be a bad move for launch? Would an incomplete, or unpolished game, be better than the apparent evil of - dare I say it - hiring more people to do more work?
 
1. Why would you think this? "We're having additional experienced developers help us polish the game ready for launch". Only in video games could this be seen as a bad thing. "Oh, you need more people to make the game as good as I want it to be? Worst. Game. Ever."
2. Because people, like the ones in this thread, will read too much into anything... as they have already. So, of course they'd make it public. Rip the band aid off, control the narrative, move on.
3. Why isn't it a good sign? Game development teams often ramp up enormously, with the bulk employed at the end of the project in order to finalise it. This is literally the standard practice for the entire Industry. The last push to release is often a massive, herculean effort involving unhealthy levels of crunch. Perhaps the additional developers will keep crunch to sane levels? Why would this be a bad move for launch? Would an incomplete, or unpolished game, be better than the apparent evil of - dare I say it - hiring more people to do more work?

1. Because I project manage tech developments of all sorts of businesses. Adding developers late in the project is a bad sign, if they worked on it previously under contract why press release now? It's a PR backfire at best.

2. Shouldn't have been done given the timing.

3. Crunch isn't just a gaming specific thing, it's literally any IT project where dev/design, code and test is involved. Gaming just made it fashionable to report on and being a buzzword. 343 could have avoided this by communicating better and with more specificity e.g. more testers inbound, more art assistance etc. Just going with "development mandates" and what appears to be bringing third party devs into a team already known to have ballooned on Halo games before from 400-700+ shows me they're needing specific talents or are attempting to brute force with more staff. It points to being behind on development, poor testing time allocated for launch, lack of transparent communication (343 have touted and worked on for years). There isn't much time left, take the last day of NOV for launch and we see 2 months and 3 weeks remaining for useful work essentially, why? because the game has to go gold weeks/1 month prior to launch to get discs manufactured and shipped around the world. What is not standard practice for the industry is to announce your contractors for crunch time, nobody does that when things are going normal and smooth. Further 343 is known for actively avoiding crunch and having "healthy" work practices.

You can't honestly think it's good PR or good development lifecycle practice to bring in more external staff in month number 57/58 of 60 total (being 5 years in development, current date and launch date assumed for last day of NOV). As I stated in my last reply, it's great for GaaS and post release updates, it's shite for going gold and launch day quality though.

IMO Halo Infinite's development is in a dark place. I hope they pull a Halo 2 that was also in deep dark development hell and turned out to be the best Halo game I ever played; both campaign and multiplayer. Multiplayer shat the bed at launch for H2 and it took a good 6 months to really find its footing, does no one remember the broken live system, rampant cheaters, modders etc. 343 was already behind for years with a new platform introduction, Covid hit and now they're pushing for launch.
 
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godhandiscen

There are millions of whiny 5-year olds on Earth, and I AM THEIR KING.
I hope that this was planned before the release and it isn't a reactionary move.

Otherwise, this a textbook mistake on how to save a failing project.

22223376742.jpg
 

Mokus

Member
At least they have extra manpower. I'm really curious what can be achieved until launch, since very likely they were already overwhelmed with other last minute game development issues.
 
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