Halo Infinite multiplayer will be free-to-play and 120fps on Xbox Series X

Update: After some rumours emerged last week, 343 Industries has now officially announced that Halo Infinite’s online multiplayer will be free-to-play, and won’t require Xbox Live Gold or Xbox Game Pass to download and dive into the action. This is a huge step for the franchise, and also confirms that Microsoft is ready and willing to compete with the likes of Fortnite and Call of Duty: Warzone.

Halo is for everyone. We can confirm #HaloInfinite multiplayer will be free-to-play and will support 120FPS on Xbox Series X. More details will be shared later! pic.twitter.com/9bIrppFiON

— Halo (@Halo) July 31, 2020

We’ve not seen any gameplay or concrete information from the multiplayer portion of Halo Infinite yet, but a recent report claims it will be larger scale than any other game in the franchise, and will feature a battle pass and robust customisation system which will be build upon for years to come. Perhaps this explains why Master Chief’s latest adventure has spent so long in development.

Original story follows: 

A new rumour has emerged which claims that Halo Infinite multiplayer will be free-to-play in some capacity, and will also be capable of 120fps on Xbox Series X at launch. If true, this could be positively massive for Master Chief. 

This new report comes from Klobrille on Twitter, an industry insider who focuses specifically on Xbox Game Studios, meaning there could be some accuracy to this sudden burst of rumours. 

According to them, Halo Infinite’s multiplayer mode will be free-to-play, or at least have a variant which will be free to download or only require Xbox Game Pass to access. This means it could be in a great position to compete against other giants such as Apex Legends, Fortnite and Call of Duty: Warzone. 

Since everyone is covering this topic, I might just go ahead as well.

– Halo Infinite multiplayer will be free-to-play
– Arena aims for 120fps on Xbox Series X
– Battle Pass system
– Customization options completely new to Halo

Halo will be *huge*.https://t.co/5py6tOeids pic.twitter.com/i7HOnsLH1D

— Klobrille (@klobrille) July 31, 2020

The tweet also claims that Halo Infinite and Arena, which I assume is the name of its multiplayer component, will aim for 120fps on Xbox Series X. In addition, it will offer a comprehensive battle pass and customisation options which are completely new to the Halo franchise. Much of this information builds upon a listing from Smyth’s Toys, which initially spilled the beans on Infinite’s free-to-play nature.

If Microsoft and 343 Industries really want to thrust Halo back into the zeitgeist, making a major part of Infinite free-to-play is a brave way of making this a reality. It will be competing against some huge franchises, but having the backing of Game Pass and xCloud arguably gives it a distinct advantage. Time will tell, but making part of the year’s biggest shooter completely free is awfully daring.

Related: Best Xbox Series X Games

Halo Infinite will be coming to Xbox Series X, Xbox One and Windows 10 later this year, acting as a flagship launch title for Microsoft’s new console. We recently saw an extended gameplay demo which looks fantastic, although left some players underwhelmed by its visuals and lacking details on its open-world and narrative. We’re bound to learn more in the coming months, though.