Update: 343 Industries has confirmed that Halo Infinite’s multiplayer will be free to play and will support 120fps on Xbox Series X.
Halo is for everyone. We can confirm #HaloInfinite multiplayer will be free-to-play and will support 120FPS on Xbox Series X. More details will be shared later! pic.twitter.com/9bIrppFiON
— Halo (@Halo) July 31, 2020
Original Story below:
Leaks from a listing on Smyths Toys have suggested that the multiplayer side of Halo Infinite will be going free-to-play when it’s released alongside the Xbox Series X later this year.
The details have now been pulled, but were captured by Google’s caching and The Verge.
The listing also reveals some other Xbox Series X enhancements, with “greatly reduced load times” and “up to 120 FPS” gameplay.
Following on from this, regular Xbox leaker Klobrille, jumped onto Twitter to claim that the game would also feature some form of Battle Pass system for cosmetics and customisations.
Since everyone is covering this topic, I might just go ahead as well.
– Halo Infinite multiplayer will be free-to-play
– Arena aims for 120fps on Xbox Series X
– Battle Pass system
– Customization options completely new to HaloHalo will be *huge*.https://t.co/5py6tOeids pic.twitter.com/i7HOnsLH1D
— Klobrille (@klobrille) July 31, 2020
It all makes a good deal of sense, with Microsoft pushing for long term engagement with Halo Infinite. 343 Industries have described the game as a “platform for the future”, planning for future Halo stories to be told within Halo Infinite as opposed to receiving new standalone releases.
The game will also be a cornerstone of Xbox Game Pass as it comes to Xbox One, Xbox Series X and PC (both via the Microsoft Store and Steam), but making the multiplayer free to play would help it reach an even wider audience. We’ve seen similar moves from Activision, making Call of Duty: Modern Warfare’s battle royale Warzone mode a standalone free to play release.
Halo Infinite’s single player gameplay reveal was the big thing that many people were tuning in to see at last night’s Xbox Games Showcase, and it delivered a compelling look into a new Halo game. However, many were somewhat disappointed by the visual fidelity on show. Notably, Microsoft decided to focus purely on the single player campaign during the showcase.
343 eventually revealed that the game was running on an Xbox Series X equivalent PC and was an older build, which clearly didn’t put the game’s best foot forward.
Even so, the game looks and sounds ambitious with an open or semi-open world design and 343 Industries talking about how the game will be a platform for the future, with new stories from the Halo universe told within Halo Infinite instead of new games.
