https://wccftech.com/halo-infinite-originally-open-world-botw-two-thirds-content-cut/

Halo Infinite seems to be poised to become a relatively-rare video game redemption story. When the game’s campaign was first shown off in the summer of 2020, the reaction was scathing, but a bit over a year later press reviews are good (check out Wccftech’s here) and hype levels are high. With the game set to launch, a new article in Bloomberg provides some interesting new information about what went wrong with Halo Infinite and how Microsoft righted the ship.

Early teasers for Halo Infinite seemed to hint at a full open world, and indeed, Bloomberg reports the original plan was a Breath-of-the-Wild-style map, with missions that could be completed in whatever order the player preferred. Development of this version of the game continued for several years, but the Halo Slipspace Engine – still built on the back of technology left behind by Bungie many years earlier – didn’t prove up to the task of a full open-world adventure. Internal strife and departures at developer 343 Industries didn’t help matters.