Canceled Halo Infinite battle royale "could have been a game changer," former dev claims

A former Halo Infinite developer claims that the canceled battle royale mode in development at Certain Affinity could have been "game-changing."

The details:

Former Certain Affinity design director Mike Clopper confirmed in a LinkedIn post (via VGC) that the Austin-based support studio was working on a battle royale mode for 2021's Halo Infinite, following numerous reports. "I led a large team of designers working on a cancelled Battle Royale mode for Halo," Clopper wrote after joining Call of Duty developer Raven Software this month. "I believe this product could have been a game changer for the franchise. We loved playing it and working on it, was a fantastic experience in spite of its cancellation."
Certain Affinity had worked on several major franchises since its founding in 2006, including several Halo titles. In 2022, the studio stated that it was "deepening" its relationship with 343 Industries, which was followed by claims from reliable sources that it was working on a battle royale for Infinite. According to the developer, over 100 employees had been working on the project since 2020, but it was reported earlier this year that it had been canceled, with studio layoffs following shortly after.
Since the project's cancellation, 343 Industries has rebranded as Halo Studios, announcing that it would be moving on from Infinite to create multiple new games using Unreal Engine 5. The developer confirmed that Infinite's Slipspace engine caused a number of issues when attempting to implement new content, which was most likely one of the reasons behind the decision to scrap the battle royale mode.

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