Developer 343 Industries has revealed that Halo Infinite’s Battle Pass is in the process of being adjusted based on player feedback, and that changes will be rolling out soon.
Halo Community Manager at 343 Industries John Junyszek took to Twitter to inform players of the upcoming tweaks to the Battle Pass progression system, which includes new challenges, bug fixes, and a longer XP boost duration. According to Junyszek, these changes should ultimately help players progress through the Battle Pass faster.
To address the feedback on Battle Pass progression we will be making targeted tunings to our model later this week.To start, we'll be adding "Play 1 Game" challenges to help make sure you consistently progress through the Battle Pass by playing matches the way you want.November 18, 2021
Even though the Halo Infinite multiplayer beta has been extremely well received since its surprise launch on November 15, 2021 – which marked the 20th anniversary of Xbox and Halo: Combat Evolved – the Battle Pass progression system has been criticized.
Currently, Halo Infinite rewards players with XP for completing in-game challenges. As you gain XP, you slowly progress through the Battle Pass levels and unlock various rewards like cosmetics, new AI companions, and boosters. However, Halo Infinite only gives players XP for completing challenges, which poses a number of problems.
Firstly, several challenges are tied to specific game modes. If, for example, you have a challenge that requires you to play Big Team Battle, you might find it remains locked if that’s not a mode you usually play. Other challenges require players to complete rather specific in-game actions, like knocking an enemy off the edge of the map or wracking up a number of kills while on a warthog turret.
Some challenges can be swapped, but only at the cost of using the ‘challenge swap’ item. There’s also a risk that some challenges won’t unlock – we've had one challenge that we've completed numerous times, only to see it stubbornly remain.
As a result of these changes, Junyszek noted that Weekly Challenge progress will need to be reset. But don’t worry – to make up for the reset, every player who logs in from November 23 to November 30 will receive the week’s Ultimate Reward, the Sigil Mark VII Visor.
Analysis: Halo Infinite is already off to a phenomenal start
The current excitement around Halo Infinite is reminiscent of Halo 3’s historic launch, which many fans would regard as the pinnacle of the series’ popularity. The game’s surprise launch on November 15 has been almost inconceivably smooth, with server issues and the litany of problems that online games usually face nowhere to be found. Some players did encounter a Halo Infinite blue screen error when the game first dropped, but it appears that problem has all but been resolved.
Microsoft’s strategy of making the game free-to-play and accessible on Steam has also seemingly paid dividends. The game smashed the current Steam record for an Xbox Game Studios title, amassing over 270k concurrent players in a couple of days. While we’re still waiting for official player count figures, it’s likely that Halo Infinite’s multiplayer beta will amass similar numbers to Forza Horizon 5, which reached over one million players before it even launched.
It’s worth remembering that Halo Infinite’s multiplayer is still in beta, with the game officially launching on December 8, 2021. All player progress in the beta carries over to the official build, so there’s no need to worry about any of your unlocks, ranks, or stats being lost. If you haven't jumped in yet, here's how to download the Halo Infinite multiplayer beta.
Of course, Halo Infinite’s multiplayer is only one part of what Microsoft hopes will be a two-punch combo. The game’s highly anticipated campaign launches on December 8 and promises to be a spiritual successor to Halo: Combat Evolved. Unlike Halo Infinite’s multiplayer, which is free-to-play, the campaign will only be available to those who purchase the game or subscribe to Xbox Game Pass.
The release of Halo Infinite bookends an incredibly strong six months for Xbox. Since July, players have been treated to first-party titles like Microsoft Flight Simulator, Psychonauts 2, Forza Horizon 5, and Skyrim: Anniversary Edition. Microsoft also added over 70 Xbox 360 and original Xbox games to its backward compatibility program and launched Xbox Cloud Gaming for consoles, which allows Xbox One owners to play Gen 9 titles like The Medium and Microsoft Flight Simulator via the cloud.
With Black Friday 2021 right around the corner, there’s no doubt that Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S will be popular with consumers, then – and we’ll be rounding up all the best Black Friday Xbox Series X deals and Xbox Series X Cyber Monday deals so you don’t miss out on any of the best offers during the annual sales extravaganza.
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