Halo Infinite delayed until 2021

By Chris Morris August 11, 2020

Halo Infinite has been delayed from a holiday launch to sometime in 2021, the development team announced Tuesday.

“We have made the difficult decision to shift our release to 2021 to ensure the team has adequate time to deliver a Halo game experience that meets our vision,” developer 343 said in a blog post. “We know this will be disappointing to many of you and we all share in that sentiment. … The extra time will let us finish the critical work necessary to deliver the most ambitious Halo game ever at the quality we know our fans expect.”

It’s an unexpected move, seeing as Microsoft has been pushing Halo Infinite hard as the primary reason to purchase the upcoming Xbox Series X console. The move means Microsoft is delaying its biggest launch title.

The delay is due, in part, to the situation created by COVID-19, making Halo Infinite the most prominent game delay of the pandemic. And it raises questions about the status of others.

It also leaves Microsoft in a precarious position. Beyond Halo, the day one launch lineup for Series X has been rather anemic so far. That could put the system at a severe competitive disadvantage in relation to the PlayStation 5 when both consoles launch this holiday season.

Chris Lee, studio head for the game, said it was “not sustainable for the well-being of our team or the overall success of the game” to ship it this holiday, indicating 343 has opted against a heavy crunch schedule. He was not certain that even having the team work longer hours would have resulted in an optimal result.

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Chris Morris has covered consumer technology and the video game industry since 1996, offering analysis of news and trends and…

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The best skills to buy first in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor

Jedi Cal Kestis.

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor has improved upon the original game in almost every way, and that includes expanding main character Cal Kestis' wide selection of skills and abilities. Whether it's new stances to engage with or entirely new skill sets to acquire, you'll find plenty to unravel throughout the game's lengthy adventure. If you're just getting started, though, you may find that your limited skill points leave you wondering which skills are worth your investment. Don't fret, though, as we've got the best skills for you to buy first in this guide.

Before we get started, however, be aware that the decisions you make in your skill tree can be reversed by spending 1 skill point, giving you the option to try new builds as you play. Luckily, that shouldn't generally be necessary – especially if you're thorough with your exploration – as Jedi Survivor has no level cap. Because of this, you can continue to grind out infinite skill points whenever you wish. In other words, you can max out the entire skill tree by the end of the game. With that out of the way, here are the best skills to buy first.
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All cross-platform games (PS5, Xbox Series X, PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC)

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Cross-platform support is becoming more important in the world of video games. Multiplayer hits like Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 and Fortnite have pushed crossplay into the limelight, and now most AAA multiplayer games release with at least partial cross-platform support. Finding every cross-platform game is no easy feat, though, so we did the hard work to bring you a comprehensive list of games that support crossplay.

Unfortunately, there aren't any rules when it comes to crossplay, so each game handles the feature a little differently. To make matters more confusing, certain backward-compatible games on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X still support crossplay on the most recent hardware, even if there isn't an official release for that hardware.

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You can’t share Xbox screenshots or videos directly to Twitter anymore

The Xbox Series S console on its side with controller.

It is no longer possible to upload and share screenshots and videos to Twitter from Xbox consoles or the Xbox Game Bar on PC. The move comes amid growing tensions between Microsoft and Twitter owner Elon Musk, who recently made a controversial change to the platform's API rules.
While Microsoft has not confirmed if this change is permanent, this disabling comes after Twitter rolled out new access tiers for its API, including an Enterprise tier that reportedly costs $42,000 a month. It seems that Microsoft has opted not to foot that bill, instead disabling Twitter's integration with Xbox on console and PC altogether.
Shortly after the feature was disabled, the official Xbox Twitter account posted a step-by-step process of how players could still get their Xbox screenshots and clips on Twitter by sharing them from the Captures menu in the Xbox mobile app. When asked by fans why the change occurred, all Microsoft would say is that "we've had to disable the ability to share game uploads directly to Twitter."
https://twitter.com/Xbox/status/1649198865961332737
So far, Xbox is the only console manufacturer to disable this feature, so we'll have to wait and see if Nintendo or PlayStation follow suit. Still, considering how common sharing screenshots and videos taken while playing a game has become on social media, it's a surprising change for Xbox to make.
If this is an intentional, permanent change, it also seems to indicate that Microsoft won't be playing ball with Elon Musk's Twitter changes. The two are currently in a social media war, as Microsoft will also be ending Twitter support on its advertising platform, while Musk teased that he might sue Microsoft. No longer being able to share screenshots or clips from one's Xbox to Twitter comes as a consequence of this feud.