Halo Infinite will be on Xbox Game Pass at launch
Phil Spencer says first-party titles will launch simultaneously on Game Pass
Halo Infinite will be available on Xbox Game Pass when it launches later this year, Xbox boss Phil Spencer confirmed in a new blog post.
"In addition to games from across four generations of consoles, our leading game subscription service, Xbox Game Pass, will continue to have our first-party games, like Halo Infinite, included at their launch," Spencer says. Note that while we know Halo Infinite will be released on PC (for Windows 10), it's unclear whether it will be in the Xbox Game Pass PC library or just the Xbox One library.
Halo Infinite and other Xbox Game Studios will also be covered by Microsoft's Smart Delivery program, which Spencer describes as a way to ensure that you "buy a game once and know that - whether you are playing it on Xbox One or Xbox Series X - you are getting the right version of that game on whatever Xbox you're playing on."
"We’re making the commitment to use Smart Delivery on all our exclusive Xbox Game Studios titles, including Halo Infinite, ensuring you only have to purchase a title once in order to play the best available version for whichever Xbox console they choose to play on," Spencer says. "This technology is available for all developers and publishers, and they can choose to use it for titles that will be released on Xbox One first and come to the Xbox Series X later."
That last line is especially important, as it confirms this technology won't be reserved for Microsoft-published games. Cyberpunk 2077, for example, will seemingly opt into the Smart Delivery program by giving Xbox Series X owners a free "upgrade" for the game if they already own it on Xbox One.
Spencer's blog post was a doozy - here are 10 things we learned about the Xbox Series X from it.
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Austin freelanced for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree, and he's been with GamesRadar+ since 2019. They've yet to realize that his position as a senior writer is just a cover up for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a focus on news and the occasional feature, all while playing as many roguelikes as possible.