As previously rumored last week, as part of Xbox’s 20th Anniversary it was announced that the multiplayer component of Halo Infinite, which is set to be free-to-play, has launched with a beta a little under a month before the game is set to launch. It is currently available to download on Xbox One, Xbox Series S / X, and PC though due to high demand the multiplayer has had some issues launching.
While the mode has been outlined as a Beta it will run till the game releases on December 8. The first season battle pass is also available today, entitled Heroes of Reach, which will be available until May of 2022. Furthermore, since all your progress from said Beta will carry over to the full game, it will give many players a feeling of what to expect.
Despite the fact that 343 Industries made clear that both the multiplayer and single-player experience would launch on December 8 to offer players a complete experience, that isn’t exactly the case. When Halo Infinite launches it will not feature co-op campaign play or forge mode, both delayed into 2022 due to 343 wanting to release the game before the end of the year.
The game was originally intended to release last year but due to a lackluster showing during the Xbox Showcase, in which the game’s graphics were much maligned, the game was delayed a year for additional development. It is most likely because of this fact that the developers at 343 do not want to delay the game longer.
Both features are set to launch alongside additional seasons of the multiplayer battle pass, with Co-Op as part of Season 2 and the Forge mode as part of season 3. When this was stated though the plan was to release a new season every 3 months. Since the game’s battle passes are designed to never expire once purchased it is possible that seasons might overlap in availability though that remains to be seen.
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A Nintendo Switch trailer was also released.
According to SteamDB.
An announcement trailer was also released.