Halo Infinite is the first open-world game in Microsoft's marquee shooter, and for the most part, it worked. The shift resulted in critics having nothing but positive things to say about Halo Infinite. But, it appears that the first open-world entry in the sci-fi FPS series was a lot different during the earlier stages of the development. Specifically, Halo Infinite could have had a much larger open world environment with more variety.
According to 343's head of creative, Joseph Staten, the Halo Infinite team "went through a lot of iterations on scope and biome variety," adding that they had to "make choices about where to scale back.
As Staten put it, Microsoft just didn't give 343 enough time to fulfill their original vision for Halo Infinite without compromising everything else about the game. It also didn't help that 343 had to deal with the mess created by the infamous 2020 Halo Infinite E3 demo.
For what it's worth, the targeted cuts weren't always about scaling back their ambition and scope for Halo Infinite. Staten explains that 343 also had to be careful about adding mechanics that would not fit thematically with the Halo franchise. Staten used crafting as an example, adding that "Master Chief doesn't need to kill animals to make leather shirts for himself. He's a massive armored super soldier. If he wants something, he goes and kills it, grabs its gun, and then keeps on going."