Halo infinity‘s second seasonwhich should be a much needed phoenix below, got off to a rocky start. Three days after its launch, the developer has acknowledged its pitfalls and promised to “look at options”. Also: Every player gets free stuff.
Halo infinity, released last fall for Xbox and PC, is the first in Microsoft’s line of successful sci-fi shooters to feature multiplayer based on a seasonal free-to-play model. How many games of similar structure is it features a Battle Pass, which you can progress through by earning XP from completing challenges (quests like “Win two Capture the Flag matches in PvP”). Each new season comes with a new Battle Pass.
Developer 343 Industries launched the game’s second season earlier this week. The fix that is so biblically it needs a table of contents, added a lot of cool stuff to the game. Last Spartan Standing, a kind of battle royale lite, and King of the Hill are two bright spots. The return of Attrition – a new game type that appeared briefly during the winter – is welcome, as are several new variants of Slayer, gloriole
But the update also missed the mark in many ways. let’s break down the main misfires:
- For one, challenges related to Last Spartan Standing weren’t properly tracked. Although the game says you can preemptively exit games without risking progress on active challenges, some players reported that their accounts weren’t reflecting any progress.
- Many traversal techniques popular with high-level players have been removed from the game. Although this was telegraphed in the patch notes, the severity of the cuts was unexpected.
- The update also removed several Halo infinity Speedrunning exploits, including the option to Pelican DropShip Pilot or to Equip a tank gun with unlimited ammo.
- On top of that, some weapons now block without warning after the patch. (The studio has clarified that this was unintentional and that a fix for this is in the works.)
The feedback came quickly and violently; For every line of praise for the new maps and modes, there were three others criticizing the overall changes. Following the setback, 343 Industries released a series of hotfixes intended to improve tracking of Last Spartan Standing challenges. Challenge progression should now update more accurately, according to the studio.
“We’ve seen feedback on changes that have impacted various multiplayer jumps and campaign speedrun strategies,” gloriole Senior Community Manager John Junyszek wrote on Twitter. “We’re not at the point where we can promise anything yet, but want to be transparent and say we take the feedback seriously and are exploring options internally.”
It’s unclear what specific jumps and speedrun exploits are being studied in the studio, or when a potential rollback to the update could go live. When asked for comment, 343 Industries representatives had nothing to add.
Continue reading: Halo infinity Just can’t take a break
Next week, Last Spartan Standing challenges are said to be getting easier. In addition, you earn for each one you complete two Levels on the event-specific Interference Battle Pass, active until May 16th. (It works similar to previous event goesallowing you to progress along with the standard Battle Pass.)
As a gesture of goodwill, 343 Industries is giving away five Challenge Swaps (single-use items that you can use to swap out one of your weekly challenges) and XP Boosts (single-use items that double the amount of XP you earn from challenges in an hour) for anyone who register by May 16th. Mine was automatically credited to my account last night.
You can earn swaps and boosts by progressing infinityBattle Pass from . You can also buy them in the microtransaction store: for 200 credits (about $2 USD) you get two of each. In November, when feedback on the first season’s issues was at a peak, 343 Industries gave away this week’s ultimate reward– a magnificent golden visor – for all who played. It’s not yet known if the same will happen for this week’s reward.
