As a thank you to the Xbox community for 20 years of support, 343 Industries has launched the free-to-play Halo Infinite Multiplayer Beta and Season 1 three weeks early, available starting now for all players on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and Windows PC. It will also be available via Xbox Cloud Gaming starting later today.
Players can enjoy the Season 1 content including all maps, core modes, Academy features, and Battle Pass, and all of their progress carries over into the full Halo Infinite launch on December 8.
“Our previous Multiplayer Technical Previews went a long way to battle-testing our services and infrastructure. But as we prepare for a significant increase in the number of players jumping into Halo Infinite on launch day, December 8th, we want to ensure all our systems are good-to-go,” said Joseph Staten, Head of Creative, Halo Infinite.
“While you may experience some bumps and bugs during this beta period, it does mark the official start of Halo Infinite Season 1, with all day-one maps and modes enabled as well as the full Season 1 Battle Pass. This means all the Battle Pass and customization items you earn or purchase during the beta will stay with you after December 8th.”
Staten also gave an update on the changed Season 1 dates: “When you start playing the beta, you will notice in the Battle Pass UI that Season 1 will last from now until May 2022, which is a change from our original goal of shipping a new Season every three months.
‘We made the decision to extend Season 1 to give ourselves more time to ensure Season 2 meets our high quality bar and so we can finish development for Season 2 in a healthy and sustainable way for our team.”
He added: “Importantly, with the Season 1 extension, we aren’t just stretching-out our original Season 1 plan. Indeed, we took this opportunity to add additional events, customization items and other content to Season 1 to make it an even richer experience from start to finish.
“For example, starting today and through the first week, you can log-in to Halo Infinite to unlock a free collection of 20th anniversary themed cosmetics. Following this free reward period, the start of our Season 1 opening event, ‘Fracture: Tenrai’, will kick off on November 23. This will be your first of multiple opportunities to earn Season 1’s samurai-themed armor pieces and other customization items.”
In the Halo Infinite Multiplayer Beta, new recruits and returning veterans alike will start their journey via the Academy under the watchful eye of Spartan Commander Agryna. After you select your own personal AI and complete a basic tutorial, suit up and take advantage of the Academy to prepare for battle before venturing into matchmaking.
Get acquainted with your Spartan’s arsenal via Weapon Drills and square off against Bot targets to hone your skills. Do you have what it takes to achieve a 3-star rating and outscore your friends?
Training Mode is a great way to get familiar with each of the Halo Infinite Multiplayer maps while putting your weapon and equipment skills to the test in a highly customizable experience with Bots.
Halo Infinite’s first season, “Heroes of Reach”, begins today and runs through May 2, 2022. Infinite’s Battle Pass offers free and premium tracks accounting for more than 100 unlockable items. If you purchase a Halo Infinite Premium Battle Pass, it will not expire – you’ll be able to progress on your own terms. Start playing today and begin building your own personal Spartan by unlocking additional armor pieces, weapon charms, visors, coatings, emblems, Armor FX, and more!
And, keeping true to this season’s theme, you’ll be able to unlock armor kits for each of the original heroes from Halo: Reach. Which Noble Team member will you rep online?
Complete daily and weekly challenges to earn XP and unlock free and premium content throughout the Battle Pass. Challenge Swaps can be used to replace a challenge and you can apply XP Boosts to temporarily earn double experience points for each challenge you complete.
Once you complete all of your weekly challenges, a special Ultimate Reward challenge will unlock and completing this will earn you a free cosmetic reward each and every week. Weekly challenges will reset every Tuesday so don’t miss out on these special, free reward.
Keep track of your challenge progress, manage your Spartan customization, monitor your multiplayer stats and more here on the new Halo Waypoint website and via the mobile app (available on iOS and Android). Learn more about the new Waypoint experience here.