Halo Infinite without a doubt is at the forefront of many Xbox fan’s minds right now. After a great showing during the Xbox and Bethesda E3 conference earlier this month, Halo Infinite has quickly climbed up many people’s most anticipated upcoming games this holiday season. This past Sunday, our very own Iron Lords Podcast sat down with 343’s Multiplayer Systems Designer Patrick Wren who has been hard at work on Halo Infinite’s multiplayer.
One of the key aspects of Halo Infinite’s launch is that the multiplayer offering of Halo will be free to play. This will be the first time in the franchise’s history. Free-to-play games have proven incredibly successful these past few years. We can look at big blockbuster successes such as Fortnite, Apex Legends, and of course Call of Duty: Warzone. However, one of the glaring concerns some fans have had in regards to Halo Infinite’s free-to-play aspects is of course microtransactions. While microtransactions are incredibly successful in many free-to-play games, there have historically been some incredibly egregious examples of microtransactions in some multiplayer games. Wren shared fans need not worry about any pay to win mechanics and that much of the game’s cosmetics would be earnable via events such as the incredible Samurai armor that stole the show during the E3 presentation.
“The exciting part of the Samurai armor is that it is going to be free, you are going to have to play the event in order to earn it. Our customization team is really into making sure that players can still earn a lot of things.“
One of the most unique aspects of Halo Infinite is that players will be able to access battle passes even after the events tied to them are over. Unlike many multiplayer games such as Apex Legends which puts a time limit in which you can complete a pass. Halo Infinite will allow players to complete these passes in as much or as little time as they want. This means if you jump into Halo Infinite a year from now you will be able to complete past event passes and earn those cosmetics at your own speed. This is a huge win for players who enjoy a wide variety of games, or simply don’t have a ton of time to grind out matches on a regular basis.
Every Spartan Is Meant To Be Unique
Wren couldn’t speak much about what kind of skins we would see in the future, or if we could see Microsoft IP crossover skins. Gears 5 did introduce Halo: Reach characters that could be played in both multiplayer and horde modes. He did say that a big aspect of Halo Infinite is making sure each player feels connected to their Spartan, with a big focus on unique customization.
“We want this Spartan to be the ultimate expression of the player, that’s why we are going so hard into customization. Because we want every player no matter who you are to have a reflection of who you are.“
As we no doubt will see more of Halo Infinite before its launch later this holiday, it is exciting to hear such positive news in regards to the game’s multiplayer. It appears that 343 has certainly covered all of its bases when it comes to gameplay modes, customization, and much more. If you want to listen to the whole interview with Patrick Wren then you can listen to it below.
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