Halo Infinite disc does not contain the game, only a DRM check

The Halo Infinite game disc only contains an installer and a DRM check, so not a playable game. That’s what John Linneman of Digital Foundry discovered. This makes Infinite the first Halo game that is not directly playable from the disc.

The Halo Infinite disc is for proof of purchase only, according to a tweet from Linneman† The game is not playable without an internet connection. When inserting the disc, the entire game still needs to be downloaded. This also prevented the game from being played early by people who had already got their hands on the game; it is only possible to download the game from the official release.

Linneman does not think this is a good development. “This makes Infinite the first Halo game that you can’t really own as a standalone copy,” he writes. “Hopefully Microsoft will reconsider such things.” Linneman expected that Microsoft has chosen this because the game was not yet finished at the time of the production of the discs. Microsoft itself has not disclosed a reason.

Halo Infinite’s multiplayer is free-to-play and was made playable early in November. The single player campaign will be available on Wednesday at 7:00 PM. The physical version of the first-person shooter will also be released on that day.