Halo Infinite Multiplayer Battle Pass Plans Revealed – IGN First

The game to turn heads in the live game space, let alone the competitive shooter space, has only gotten more competitive with each console release and gaming trend. With Halo Infinite, developer 343 Industries is trying to make its multiplayer more engaging in the long run while offering what could be considered a consumer-centric business model through its flexible battle pass system and emphasis on feedback. of the players.

IGN sat down with Halo Infinite chief designer Jerry Hook and lead progression designer Chris Blohm to discuss how Halo Infinite’s free-to-play approach is different from others on the market and how they expect gamers to play. of all kinds go back to history. FPS.

Halo Infinite Battle Pass Plan

Hook and Blohm know that we play other games, as Blohm said, it would be “ridiculous to think otherwise.” With this and the understanding that some Battle Passes can foster unhealthy habits for players, they decided that Halo Infinite Battle Passes should never expire. This was announced in June, but Blohm said they’re doing it because they “don’t want people to burn out at the end of the season” and “feel healthy and come back because they’re excited” rather than because they have to rush and try to finish the content they paid for.

“We wanted to be able to say, ‘Hey, look, when you put in $ 10, you keep that $ 10,'” Hook said. Halo Infinite won’t have loot boxes either, so once you spend your money on something, you know exactly what you can get.

Hook and Blohm also discussed these key details on how the battle passes will work:

• You can only have one active battle pass at a time, which means that the chosen battle pass is the one that gains experience as you play.
• You can change which battle pass is active at any time.
• The test flights battle pass is not representative of what we will see in the final battle pass.
• Approximately every quarter of the Battle Pass will have a Legendary cosmetic. Legendary rated cosmetics will be related to the character’s canon or a new type of customization item with attributes or special effects.
• Event rewards are independent of the Battle Pass.

Season 1: Heroes of Reach Battle Pass

Okay, but what’s really in the Season 1 Battle Pass? The first season of Halo Infinite is called “Heroes of Reach”. This was previously announced by 343 in a June Inside Infinite update, and while we didn’t get full details on each item in the battle pass (although you can see a sneak peek of some items we’ll see in the battle pass in the image below) , Hook, and Blohm revealed more about the rewards we can expect to see in the first battle pass.

“We know that people like [Halo] Reach and we knew that the story was going to have a different Reach rhythm: in paperback books, there is a Reach rhythm [in Halo: Shadows of Reach] after Halo 5. The Infinity returns to Reach. So we hit the ground running with the best of Reach customization, “said Blohm.

As expected with a Heroes of Reach seasonal title, the first armor core will feature customization options from Halo: Reach. Think of armor cores as the base of armor into which all corresponding armor of that type fits. For example, all Halo Infinite multiplayer players will get the new Mk. Armor Core VII. This means that all customization options – shoulders, helmets, visors, knee pads, and more – are made for the Mk. The Model VII can be switched to your Spartan as long as that specific core is equipped. The Battle Pass is an opportunity to unlock the classic Mk. V and customization options for it.

“When we look at Heroes of Reach and what [Blohm] and the team put together is a great model of how we’re trying to tell a visual story with the winning characters’ battle pass, basically through all the Reach characters with the battle pass, “Hook said.” For us, the system that has been created with the [armor] core in the center, and then all the attachments that players can choose to add. Do you want Emile’s knives? Do you want Jorge’s grenades? Mix and match how you want to create yours, or if you just say, ‘No, I want to look exactly like Jun,’ then you can. And for the first time, she can look exactly like Kat with the prosthetic arm. “

To ensure proper representation of prosthetics in Halo Infinite, Blohm said they worked closely with internal veterans and the nonprofit called Limbitless. “We want people to build Spartans that they aspire to be or love to be, or look cool or represent them,” said Blohm.

As for other rewards we can look forward to in the battle pass, Blohm said we will see Death Effects (another Halo Reach customization callback) and other new armor effects. There will also be armor kits. While many of the Noble Team cosmetics can be earned throughout the battle pass, you will need to unlock a specific kit to look almost exactly like a Noble Team member. We may be playing Spartan-IV where Noble Team was primarily comprised of Spartan-III, but Blohm said this is the closest we have come to resemble the characters in Halo: Reach in Halo’s multiplayer mode.

However, there are certain things that will surely not be in the battle pass. Like, say, uncharacteristic emoticons.

“We struggle a lot with the Spartans’ dance moves. We think more traditional players would reject the Master Chief’s flossing. However, [Personal] AI can go crazy. AI can do whatever it wants. That way you can preserve the militaristic feel without having to break what you would consider canon. Unless, of course, Joseph [Staten] make up a whole new story about the Master Chief dance, but until that happens, [we have Personal AI]Hook said with a smile.

Weekly event and challenge rewards

The new customization options cannot be obtained solely through the Battle Pass nor can they be purchased from the store. Playing the campaign will also earn players new cosmetic items and players can also earn a weekly reward (called a capstone) by completing all weekly challenges.

The challenge system was available during Halo Infinite’s test flight and has since undergone some changes based on player feedback. Hook said it was important for them to make sure the challenges are straightforward and something the players really want to achieve. The development team monitors statistics regarding daily and weekly challenges that players do not complete or choose to reroll. Those are then phased out to make room for challenges for a trending weapon or tactic. Their goal, Hook said, is to make players feel like they can earn consistent XP for their battle passes or work towards their final weekly reward without forcing themselves to play unfavorably.

“So at launch, we have the challenge system that powers the battle pass and the event system. Events fire every few weeks,” said Blohm.

Hook and Blohm are keeping most of the event details quiet for now, but they did share that each event will have its own free event pass. This is one of the few timed reward systems in multiplayer and will not include a paid hint.

“You get a special playlist and a new reward track for [each event]”Blohm said.” That’s two weeks for an event and one week for the fracture, but the fracture comes back every month and saves its progress. That’s another case where we had a long talk. We said, ‘How much do we expect people to play?’ Right? And let’s balance it. So you know what, if they’re at their parents’ house for a week and they don’t have their Xbox, they can still get everything that’s on the bounty track. “

Hook said they will monitor progression through events and eventually through more test flights to see what players respond to in terms of rewards or progress and grow from there.

How to get that sweet samurai armor

Blohm acknowledged that while more traditional Spartan armor and customizations look great, some of us crave more exclusive Spartan fashion options. This is where The Fracture event comes in. This recurring event is how we’re going to get unique cosmetics that don’t make much sense with Halo canon, like the mocked Yoroi samurai armor. Hook said they saw what the Master Chief Collection is doing with their multiplayer cosmetics (MCC multiplayer just got Viking and Gladiator armor) and how their community is responding to inform its development at The Fracture event.

“Multiplayer Spartans are not Master Chiefs. Every now and then they have bright colors. Every now and then in Reach, they have a helmet on fire. We want to be very careful how we treat some of these things and that’s one of the reasons we brought The Fracture as we brought it. What we’re saying with a Fracture is very clearly, ‘Hey, this is not canon. This is not a Spartan who is fighting the Outcasts,’ “Blohm said.

Of course, there have been other unique cosmetics throughout Halo’s multiplayer history, such as the Hayabusa armor. Everything still has to make sense within the Halo universe and they intend to lean on the Halo Fractures story to help with that. Hook said they look forward to hearing from the community about the things they would like to see, although keeping cosmetics in keeping with the Halo legends is crucial.

Community feedback is a constant focus for this team and they are ultimately looking at us to see what we want, whether it’s changes to events or more support for a feature like personal AI. Hook and Blohm made it clear, however, that they want to make sure that every part of multiplayer feels rewarding rather than exhausting so that hopefully we get back to multiplayer in Halo Infinite.

“The battle pass system is really just a small part of the overall ecosystem for a season,” Hook said. “When we take a look at our events or event structures, it’s not just about another place that you sell stuff. It’s about taking that structure from a battle pass and combining it with each of the event structures that we have as well. What Chris says a lot, and I think is critical to success, is that we want players every time they participate in an activity so they can feel rewarded. The battle pass is above all that, which is when you play, you you feel rewarded for the battle pass. That is our goal. ”

Halo Infinite is out on December 8, but IGN will keep you covered on new Halo Infinite announcements throughout November. Make sure to check out the newly revealed Streets multiplayer map if you haven’t already.

Miranda Sánchez is the executive editor of guides at IGN and a member of Podcast unlocked. She is a huge fan of stationery and fountain pens. Sometimes you can find it in Twitter.