Halo Infinite Coming December 8 – Update

Microsoft will release Halo Infinite on December 8 for Xbox consoles and Windows. The game is part of Game Pass and the multiplayer portion is free-to-play. Halo Infinite was supposed to come out with the Xbox Series X and S last year, but was delayed.

The release date of December 8 was in the Microsoft Store on Wednesday and has subsequently been confirmed by The Verge. Microsoft is expected to officially announce the release date Wednesday evening during the gamescom opening show, which starts at 8 p.m. Microsoft did not mention the game in its own gamescom presentation on Tuesday.

Update, 20:35: Halo Infinite will indeed be released on December 8, confirms 343 Industries. The studio did so during the gamescom 2021 opening ceremony on Wednesday evening. The developer is also showing a cinematic trailer for the first multiplayer season of Halo Infinite.

Delayed Xbox Series Launch Title

Halo Infinite was intended to be the main launch title for the Xbox Series X and S. Those consoles came out late last year, and Microsoft showed the first gameplay footage of the game in July last year. The graphics were criticized by many players, to which developer 343 Industries subsequently responded. The studio said it agreed with much of the criticism and not much later it was decided to postpone the game to 2021. Earlier this year, Microsoft indicated that the game will be released during the American holiday period.

Free multiplayer and 120fps option for Xbox Series X

The multiplayer portion of Halo Infinite is free-to-play, making it accessible to anyone with an Xbox console or Windows PC. On the Xbox Series X, there is an option to play multiplayer mode with a frame rate of 120fps. In the single player campaign, the game will run in 4k resolution at 60fps on that console. There is support for crossplay and crossprogress. So players can take their progress from an Xbox console to a PC and players on the different platforms can compete against each other.

Co-op campaign and Forge level editor coming later

Earlier this month, developer 343 Industries announced that Halo Infinite will only consist of a single player and multiplayer component at launch this year. The co-op mode to play the campaign with others will not be added until later. The same goes for the Forge level editor. The developer says that every three months a new “season” will be added to Halo Infinite with updates and expansions. The co-op feature is planned for season two and the Forge editor for season three.