Almost A Year After Release, Halo Infinite’s Winter Update Showcases Fundamental Problems at 343 Industries

This November, Halo Infinite will turn one year old. Well...the multiplayer version of the game. In a series first, the multiplayer component of Halo Infinite was released separately from the main game as a free-to-play title on November 15th, 2021.

Multiplayer supported cross-play and cross-progression across PC, Xbox One, and the Xbox Series S|X consoles. Other features included the introduction of Academy (a way for new players to get acquainted with how Halo multiplayer plays), Arena, Big Team Battle, and a Battle Pass.

Less than a month later, the campaign launched on December 8th to wide acclaim, winning Player's Voice at The Game Awards 2021, Action Game of the Year & Online Game of the Year at the 25th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards, and was even selected as Game Informer's Game of the Year.

Despite this acclaim, the game was missing many fan-favorite features. One of them is Forge mode, a level editor that allows players to create their own maps, which has been part of the series since Halo 3. In March, 343 began a closed beta of the mode to "a small group of community creators" before announcing a month later that the open beta of Forge would start sometime in September.

Now, 343 has announced that the open beta has been delayed to November 8th, when the game's winter update will launch.

That very same day, the campaign network co-op will exit the preview stages to allow players to play through the campaign online.

However, players will not be able to play through the campaign on the same screen, as split-screen co-op has been canceled.

Creative lead Joseph Staten had the following to say about the mode's cancellation:

“We’ve had to make the difficult decision to not ship campaign split-screen co-op and take the resources that we would use on [split-screen co-op] and go after this list and all of these other things."

Also a part of the winter update is two new maps, Detachment and Argyle, sometime between November and March 2023.

In March 2023, season 3 of Halo Infinite's multiplayer will begin, a delay from November's previously planned start date.

Usually, I don't write about patch notes, but I felt this deserved special mention, given how little has been added to the game since its launch. There's very little here for a game that's supposed to be a platform for the Halo franchise going forward.

As a person who mainly plays Halo campaigns, there's been nothing new since the game launched nine months ago. I get that 343 is having issues with the newly-minted Slipspace Engine, but I feel that I've been more than patient with the lack of story content. I'm not even talking full-fledged expansions here. I'd even settle for additional missions in Academy, challenges for weapon proficiency, or races across the map.

The split-screen co-op was how I was introduced to the franchise, so to see it canceled is a massive disappointment. It was one of my two holdouts for a No Man's Sky-style return to Halo Infinite, the other being an expansion to the campaign. The fact that neither will be included in the winter update or the first half of 2023 is seriously concerning.

I won't go as extreme as others have on the internet, but I think it's time for Microsoft to reevaluate its relationship with 343 Industries. The studio has bungled each game they've worked on, and Halo Infinite seems to be heading down that very same road, despite how hard 343 has been working at making the game feature-complete.

That may sound harsh, but Halo Infinite is supposed to be the future of Halo. So it's time for 343 to play some serious catch-up or risk being studio closure or reassignment before Halo: The Endless is announced, whatever that ends up being.

Until next time!

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