Halo 5: Guardians proved divisive amongst longtime fans who were disappointed that series protagonist Master Chief didn’t serve as the sole playable hero. Out of the backlash came a lesson for developer 343 Industries, resulting in the team establishing a new pillar for the brand going forward, which centered on paying homage to the Halo that Xbox gamers fell in love with years prior. Thus, the shooter that later bore the name Infinite returned Chief to the forefront. The studio acted upon a few other ambitions as well, chiefly exploring a more open-ended gameplay structure and free-to-play multiplayer. It all manifested courtesy of engineers dedicating a good chunk of development to building a new set of proprietary tools, the SlipSpace Engine. However, admittedly insufficient management and a rash of technical shortcomings nearly prevented Halo Infinite from reaching its true potential, evidenced by the ill-fated Ascension demo that debuted during Xbox’s 2020 Games Showcase. As opp