Halo Infinite multiplayer will be free-to-play, 343 Industries says

Halo Infinite
(Image credit: Microsoft)

Halo Infinite multiplayer could be considerably different to other entries in Microsoft's flagship series in terms of its resolution and frame rate.

While Microsoft gave us our first-look at Halo Infinite's campaign during the Xbox Games Showcase on July 23, developer 343 Industries remained tight-lipped on details of the new Halo's multiplayer offering.

However, according to a tweet from the game's developer, Halo Infinite will run at 120fps and be free-to-play.

"Halo is for everyone. We can confirm #HaloInfinite multiplayer will be free-to-play and will support 120FPS on Xbox Series X," the tweet says. "More details will be shared later!"

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Free multiplayer for all

Halo Infinite

(Image credit: Microsoft)

In a recent interview with Polygon, Xbox boss Phil Spencer teased that Halo Infinite could see a change in structure from previous Halo games, with his comments leading many to speculate that Halo Infinite will be an ongoing platform for plenty of post-launch support.

"There's been a ton of learning in the studio around what does it mean to actually have a collection, the kind of totality of the Halo lore and stories and experience inside of one Halo world, one Halo UI, and platform," Spencer told Polygon. "As 343 has gone through this journey, they've seen some of the benefits of not requiring that our customers make a decision between 'Do I want to play this one or that one?' I feel like in a way, the games almost compete with each other. You see that with some of the annualized franchises that are out there – which clearly Halo's not annualized - but you see that where you spend a lot of energy actually trying to move the customers who are already playing your game to a new version of your game. 

"I think as gaming has evolved, there's a view of 'our customers are our customers and we should respect them where they are.' It's similar to our Xbox message, and I think you'll see that in terms of the way Infinite is talked about – even the structure of what the game is itself."

Halo Infinite introducing free-to-play multiplayer and a battle pass system could see the game going head-to-head with the likes of Call of Duty and Fortnite, with the former recently finding success in shaking up its multiplayer format.

According to Microsoft, we'll get a look at Halo Infinite multiplayer later in 2020 – but before the game's release in "Holiday" 2020. 

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Vic Hood
Associate Editor, TechRadar Gaming

Vic is TechRadar Gaming's Associate Editor. An award-winning games journalist, Vic brings experience from IGN, Eurogamer and more to the TechRadar table. You may have even heard her on the radio or speaking on a panel. Not only is Vic passionate about games, but she's also an avid mental health advocate who has appeared on both panels and podcasts to discuss mental health awareness. Make sure to follow her on Twitter for more.