We may not have gotten an Inside Infinite in May, but the sheer volume of information we got in June more than made up for it. In the June 2021 Inside Infinite, we heard a little more from the Live Team and learned about the Waypoint team's work on designing a new website and mobile app to launch alongside Halo Infinite this year.
Of course, if you have any questions about the stuff discussed in this article, don’t forget to ask them on Twitter with #Ask343. The Q&A sessions in the middle of each month are very informative.
"Seasons are the core container or framework for the content we’ll be delivering to our players. It’s a concept they should be familiar with in MCC already, but for our new players, it’s pretty simple: roughly every three months, we’re going to kick-off a new season. This comes with a ton of updates, new gameplay content, new events, new systems, new customizations, new progressions, new new new…" - Ryan Paradis
As in most games, Seasons will last roughly 3 months each and will contain a bunch of new content. This is more time between each content drop than we saw in Halo 5: Guardians, and coupled with the fact that customizations are easier and faster to make for 343 than ever before, we'll be seeing a lot of content dropped with each season.
"And you absolutely do not need to wait 3 months for bug fixes! We’re going to have to prioritize fixes on our end of course – not everything will be fixed immediately – but we have the infrastructure to deploy fixes pretty rapidly, once we solve them on our end. And of course, player feedback will continue to play a key role in identifying opportunities and shaping our priorities as Halo Infinite grows and evolves over time." - Ryan Paradis
Although Seasons will last for 3 months, bug fixes and improvements will arrive far sooner. Players shouldn't worry that major issues will remain unresolved for months on end.
"For Season 1 think of events as fun things for the players to experience and get rewarded. Almost every week will mix up the activities that are presented to the player. Certain big weeks will feature events that have new activities and specific reward tracks– free reward tracks. We will provide more details on specific events before launch but be on the lookout for a special event type with specific thematic rewards called a “Fracture.” The Battle Pass and other main vectors will supply canon customization. The Fracture and some events will at times lean into things further afield - like the Yoroi armor shown in the multiplayer trailer." - Chris Blohm
Here, we get a few more details about what events are and how they will work in Halo Infinite Season 1. There's some hesitancy about describing exactly what an event is, but it seems to go beyond the core Arena and BTB offerings in the game. In particular, the "Fracture" event is where the Yoroi armor core will be obtainable, among other things. The Yoroi armor core, as well as other undisclosed event rewards, will not necessarily be closely tied into the canon, while Battle Pass and other primary reward pathways will offer canon customization.
In addition to being a beautiful art piece by @pixelflaregfx, this artwork tells us the name of the event in which we can earn the Yoroi Armor Core: "Fracture: Tenrai". Based on this information, it seems like there will be multiple Fractures events, as well as other events, once the game has launched.
"Out of the gate players can get starting gear and get rewards from the free Battle Pass track, the paid Battle Pass track, challenges, skill rewards, event reward tracks, legacy rewards (H5’s SR 152, for example), and be rewarded for some campaign actions. We have a number of Season 1 giveaways as well – certain weeks and days have some significance inside and outside the game, so we’ve set aside pieces for players to login and claim." - Chris Blohm
There are a ton of ways to unlock items in Halo Infinite, and many of them are rewards that are only accessible through playing the game. There will be free and paid Battle Pass tracks, Challenges, Skill Rewards (likely reaching a certain competitive rank or winning a certain number of games), Event Rewards, Legacy Rewards (possibly including more than just the SR 152 reward from Halo 5: Guardians), and even Campaign. And, as with the MCC, there will be free rewards given away for special days and weeks starting in Season 1. There will be even more ways to earn rewards added beyond launch as the game grows.
Customization on App (Left) and Progression on App (Right).
We've seen this view before, and it's worth noting that much of this is a render to show intent rather than details accurate to the final product. Using the new Waypoint App, players will be able to customize their Spartan and view stats on their progress with Challenges (which will include Daily Challenges) and the Battle Pass. They can also track their accomplishments within the current event.
Halo Infinite Customization shown on App (Left), Game (Center), and Web (Right).
This image provides us the same App Customization view we'd seen earlier, but it also shows us the Armor Menu in-game and on the website. The in-game menu is likely close to the final version, but the website menu is known to include fabricated details. Still, there are some aspects that are worth noting since they may have a basis in reality.
This screen is shown when the Mark VII Armor Core is selected. There are multiple sockets, including coatings, helmet, visor, chest gear, shoulders, and gloves. There are also symbols on the far left and right that do not have any options selected. The Helmet is highlighted, and in the bottom right, there is a line of text saying "Attachments Available," suggesting helmet attachments are selected within the Helmet menu.
The website Customization view has a few more details, but we need to be careful with what we take as fact from this information. For example, the unlock requirements, description, and armory for the item are likely placeholders, not meant to be taken as representative of the actual information. However, there are some interesting details here nonetheless.
For one, a Campaign Pass is mentioned in the unlock requirements. While it's possible this was also a fabricated detail, it suggests that Campaign rewards might come from a Campaign Pass in the final game. Time will tell if this is actually the case.
We also have the names of each of the customization slots we saw for the in-game menu. From left to right, we have Kit, Coatings, Helmet, Visor, Chest Gear, Left Shoulder Pad, Right Shoulder Pad, Wrist Gear, Gloves, and Knee Pads.
"There is a dedicated Battle Pass section that allows the user to explore their current and past Battle Passes. They will also have the opportunity to buy Battle Passes right from the app."
In addition to keeping track of their progress on the Battle Pass in the app, players will be able to purchase them from the app itself, without needing to enter the game to make the purchase.
"Halo Infinite Progression shown on Game (left) and App (right)."
Here, we get another view of the in-game and app menus, this time for the Battle Pass. Let's first take a closer look at the in-game view.
This Battle Pass is just an example, and it likely won't offer the same rewards in the same places in the final build, but it does give an example of how the system will work. For one, on this screen, there are three tabs: one for Battle Pass, one for Event, and one for Challenges. The Season Pass is progressed with XP, and the Consumables Menu is accessible from this page by pressing the "Y" Button. Some tiers in the pass offer free gear, which is marked by the FREE tag at the top of the item, and Tier 15 offers multiple items. The SAP/MT Shoulder Pad is displayed in Tier 14.
This description may just be filler for now, but it gives an example of how previewing an item will look in the app. There is an image of the item, alongside a description, manufacturer, season of release, rarity, and unlock requirements. There is also the option to view attachments for the item.
"At the center of our plans is a goal to deeply root your Multiplayer character in the larger Halo universe and give them a vital, active role in the Halo story moving forward. How exactly we’re going to do this in the Seasons and years ahead… Well, we’re not ready to share details yet." - Joseph Staten
This quote should not be taken lightly. While the Campaign is firmly a Master Chief story, it is worth recalling that Halo Infinite is meant to be a platform for the next decade of Halo. It seems likely that future story additions to the game will be coming, and they will feature the player's own Multiplayer Spartan, just as was done in Spartan Ops and, to an extent, the Halo: Reach Campaign.
Summary
In this month’s issue of Inside Infinite, we primarily learned about the new Halo Waypoint website and app. While the article contained a lot of information about these two offerings themselves, there wasn't quite as much about Halo Infinite itself. Nonetheless, we still discovered a few new things, as summarized below.
Seasons will last roughly 3 months each.
Bug fixes and patches will arrive within this 3-month period. Players do not need to wait for the next Season for issues to be resolved.
Events are a limited-time offering beyond the core Arena and BTB options that will offer their own progression and rewards.
Fractures and some other events will offer rewards that do not necessarily fit within the canon, while the Battle Pass and other primary reward sources will offer canon items.
The Yoroi Armor Core can be earned within the Fractures: Tenrai event during Season 1.
Customizations can be earned through the free and paid tracks of the Battle Pass, challenges, skill rewards, events tracks, legacy rewards, and Campaign-related achievements. There will also be free giveaways during various days and weeks each Season.
Players can use the Halo Waypoint app to view their progress on Battle Passes, Challenges, and Events.
Armor Customization will consist of Kit, Coatings, Helmet, Visor, Chest Gear, Left and Right Shoulder Pad, Wrist Gear, Gloves, Knee Pads, and more.
Campaign Passes may be a reward path in the final game, although this could be nothing more than placeholder text.
Armor Cores appear to be customizable in parallel, meaning you can have a Mark VII set up and immediately swap to a different set up on the Mark V Armor Core.
The unlock requirements, manufacturer, and description of an item are shown when selecting it. Attachments are also determined on a per-item basis.
Players can buy Battle Passes directly from the Waypoint app.
The Battle Pass is progressible by earning XP and can offer multiple items on a single tier if both a Free and Paid item are available in the same tier.
The Consumables menu is accessible from the Battle Pass menu in game.
Items have rarities indicating how desirable the item is. Since there is no indication that these rarities are final, I will hold off on including them in the customization section for now.
Joseph Staten has teased post-launch story content involving the player's Multiplayer Spartan, a la Spartan Ops from Halo 4 and, to a lesser extent, Halo: Reach's Campaign.