Xbox surprises fans by releasing Halo Infinite's free-to-play multiplayer early

Xbox surprises fans by releasing Halo Infinite's free-to-play multiplayer early
PHOTO: Xbox

Where are we dropping, Spartans? You can now play Halo Infinite. Well, Halo Infinite's multiplayer mode at least.

Xbox Game Studios and developer 343 Industries announced that the game's competitive multiplayer component is now available to play on Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and PC, ahead of the full game's launch on Dec 8, 2021. Here's the kicker: it's free.

Here's a launch trailer:

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEEy4kidPFg[/embed]

While Xbox is calling this early release a 'multiplayer beta', it's really just early access to the game in all but name.

This launch includes the game's whole first season of content, with progression carried over to Halo Infinite's full release in December. The multiplayer mode comes with its own battle pass full of cosmetics, all of which players will get to keep.

Technically, Halo Infinite's full release won't even be its full release. 343 Industries earlier confirmed that franchise staples like Forge mode and a co-operative campaign will only arrive later in 2022, and there is much more content planned for the game's future.

Master Chief's latest adventure was planned for launch in 2021 alongside Microsoft's next-generation consoles, but it has been delayed a full year.

Hopefully, that delay pays off — but we're already hearing great things about its free-to-play multiplayer mode.

READ MORE: The Elder Scrolls 6 to release exclusively on Xbox and PC

This article was first published in Hardware Zone.

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