The global pandemic has claimed another casualty, this time in the form of Halo Infinite, as 343 Industries has announced that both Campaign co-op and Forge will not make it in time for launch.

Both modes, which are highly integral to the Halo experience, will follow next year as Creative Head Joseph Staten explains that “Unfortunately, as we focused the team for shutdown and really focused on a quality experience for launch, we made a really tough decision to delay shipping campaign co-op for launch. And, we also made the tough call to delay shipping Forge past launch, as well.”

In terms of timelines, Campaign co-op is scheduled to release in Season 2 which is about 3 months after launch, with Forge to follow in Season 3.

You can view the full Halo Infinite development update in the video below:

Even with this, Staten is quick to allay fears, saying that the team is still 100% committed to its planned Holiday 2021 release window. A bit of good news at least.

Hardcore Halo fans will know that both of the now delayed modes are a big blow, and many have expressed the same concern since the Halo campaign has always been a cooperative experience that they’ve always enjoyed with family or friends. Some have even called to just delay the whole game, as launching without Campaign co-op and Forge would “diminish” the value of the product in some ways.

Whatever the case may be, we’ll hope to see and hear more about Halo Infinite during the Xbox Gamescom show on August 24.