In the latest Halo infinite news developer 343 Industries has shared their priority list to address the game’s biggest concerns. They also thanked fans for their patience.
The launch of Halo Infinite along with a professional circuit to go with it had Halo fans excited at the end of 2021. Unfortunately, the excitement was short-lived and 2022 has marked the swift fall from grace of the new Halo title by 343 Industries. This has forced 343 Industries to share a 3-point plan of action in the latest piece of Halo Infinite news.
The context for 343 Industries thanking the public
At time of writing on March 4th, Halo Infinite is the #77th most popular game on Twitch, with an average of 6,796 viewers.
The Halo Infinite's player base on PC also has seen a significant decrease with the game averaging just over 10,000 players in the last 30 days. Figures for player count on console are not public knowledge, but the game is free-to-play as part of the XBOX Game Pass.
Since the start of 2022, the issues facing Halo Infinite include missing modes and features, lack of a co-op campaign and a paywall in front for the majority of content. More recently several players on the HCS pro circuit have voiced their concerns, specifically regarding the lack of a solid ranked matchmaking ladder system.
What is 343 Industries planning to do?
In their March update, the developer 343 Industries outlined their plan to put Halo Infinite back on track. The official post primarily focused on plans for Season 2, which is still slated for May 3rd, 2022.
The Halo Infinite team's "priority order":
- 1 - Addressing issues negatively impacting the player experience.
- 2 - Completing Season 2 and delivering it as promised on May 3rd.
- 3 - Continuing work on Campaign Co-Op, Forge, and Season 3.
The developer also shared that their "Priority Zero" is the team health but admitted that progress has been slower than anticipated.
"Priority Zero means that we sometimes need to move slower so that we can move faster later. Frankly, these last few months have been slower than we expected, and we sincerely thank you for your patience as we stay true to the priorities, above," said Joseph Staten, Head of Creative at Halo Infinite.
Priority #1: Fixing issues that damage player experience
The first priority is addressing issues that damage the player experience. 343 Industries has shared that they have an internal "hotlist" that is updated every week with he most critical issues affect player enjoyment.
"We are working on a public facing version of the Hotlist, similar to what the studio did during the Master Chief Collection updates, so that all of you will have a clear and constant window into the status of Hotlist issues as we work to address them," explained Joseph Staten in their March update.
Issues on the current hotlist include vulnerabilities to the anti-cheat system and problems with the BTB matchmaking, "that we didn’t realize existed until we launched the game at scale".
Priority #2: Shipping Halo Infinite Season 2 (new maps and modes included)
The second priority will be shipping Season 2 which will begin on May 3rd. The theme for the season will be Lone Wolves, and we already have concept art for two of the new skins; Sigrid Eklund and Hieu Dinh.
Halo Infinite Season 2 will include a mix of story-themed Events and Battle Pass items to fit the Lone Wolves theme.
Season 2 will also include:
- Playlist updates
- Balance changes
- New modes (3 confirmed)
- New maps (2 confirmed)
In the update 343 Industries confirmed there will be two new maps; Arena map Catalyst and Big Team Battle map Breaker.
The new modes will be Last Spartan Standing (FFA elimination), King of the Hill (updated) and a new mode entitled Land Grab.
Priority #3: Work on Campaign Co-op, Forge and Season 3
The third priority 343 Industries outlined in their March update targets Campaign Co-op and Forge, two features that were expected on launch. Forge has been a staple since Halo 3, and allows players to create their own multiplayer maps from scratch.
The fact Halo Infinite did not have this on release has proved detrimental especially given the lack of content in Season 1. In fact the lack of Forge has been a common topic across Halo Infinite news outlets.
Key Point: Neither Campaign Co-op nor Forge will be released for the start of Season 2
While Campaign Co-op and Forge are the #3 priority, gamers will have to wait to get them. 343 Industries shared that Campaign network Co-op will be delivered "later in Season 2" and that Forge is slated for release in Season 3.
"In the near term, we will continue to privately flight Forge as we develop it while also planning for public flight(s) later this year. We still have the goal of shipping Forge with Season 3," said Joseph Staten, Head of Creative at Halo Infinite.
What about Season 1?
With two months to go until Season 2, the Halo Infinite team did drop that a new event "Tactical Ops" will launch next week. Tactical Ops will include variants of Tactical Slayer Mode and new Mark VII core-focused rewards.
The Halo Infinite news is not perhaps as immediate as fans would have hoped, but for those willing to hold on their might be light at the end of the tunnel.
Should you have any concerns or wish to find out more information, visit the Halo Support website.