A now-deleted description for Halo Infinite on the Xbox Series X pre-order registration page at the Smyths Toys website said the game’s multiplayer would be free-to-play and operate at up to 120fps on Xbox Series X.
Update – 4:43 p.m., 7/31/20: Microsoft says the information in the leaked store listing is true. “Halo is for everyone,” the company tweeted. “We can confirm Halo Infinite Multiplayer will be free-to-play and will support 120FPS on Xbox Series X.”
Original story follows.
It’s unclear when the description was first published, but it appears to have been taken off the website after people online started noticing it. You can still read it via the Google Cache version of the listing:
Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
While 343 Industries has yet to show off any of Halo Infinite’s multiplayer or confirm much of how it will work, making it free-to-play would keep it in line with many other competitors, like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare’s battle royale mode Warzone and Destiny 2‘s multiplayer, both of which are free-to-play.
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This apparent leak comes after 343 Industries has had to squash rumors following Halo Infinite’s gameplay debut at this month’s Xbox Series X showcase that its multiplayer modes wouldn’t launch the same time as the main campaign. “Nothing to see here folks, this is not true,” community director Brian Jarrard wrote in response to worries about a delay going viral on Twitter.
The studio has also been dealing with fallout from some fans’ reactions to how the game looked during its showcase demo and a new set of screenshots. After a week of people debating the quality of the graphics and the merits of the Halo series’ overall aesthetic, 343 Industries acknowledged some of the complaints in a community blog post that was published overnight.
“In many ways we are in agreement here—we do have work to do to address some of these areas and raise the level of fidelity and overall presentation for the final game,” John Junyszek, the studio’s community manager, wrote. “The build used to run the campaign demo was work-in-progress from several weeks ago with a variety of graphical elements and game systems still being finished and polished. While some of the feedback was expected and speaks to areas already in progress, other aspects of the feedback have brought new opportunities and considerations to light that the team is taking very seriously and working to assess.”
343 Industries has been calling Halo Infinite a “spiritual reboot,” and to that end Junyszek wrote that the team is going for a more “classic” art style that looks cleaner and has less noise. That’s probably smart for Halo, eve if it doesn’t make it a great next-gen showpiece.
Unfortunately, due in part to issues around working from home during the ongoing covid-19 pandemic, the studio says it’s possible Halo Infinite’s multiplayer won’t have a beta prior to release, which would be another first for the series.