Microsoft springs surprise with early launch of Halo Infinite multiplayer

Microsoft dropped a huge surprise for Xbox fans on Monday as it launched the Halo Infinite multiplayer. Rumours started swirling around the weekend that the US tech giant would drop the Halo Infinite multiplayer to coincide with the 20th anniversary of Xbox. Now, Microsoft has made it official.

Microsoft and 343 Industries, the developers of Halo Infinite, ran multiplayer test events over the past months. Now, the mode is open to all.

The cross-platform multiplayer mode in the Halo Infinite has gone live for everyone on Xbox Series S/X, Xbox One, and PC in beta. The beta also includes access to season one, all core maps, and battle pass features. All progress will also carry over to the December 8 launch day.

The Halo Infinite campaign is still set for release on December 8, though some features will be missing. The developers will release the campaign co-op and Forge modes later as 343 Industries wanted to focus on the single- and multiplayer modes quality.

“Unfrigginbelievable!”​

Play the @Halo Infinite multiplayer beta now. And yes, your progress will carry over on launch day: https://t.co/FhUeWpC15l | #Xbox20 pic.twitter.com/VdRnU0Co99

— Xbox (@Xbox) November 15, 2021

A few hurdles did crop up initially while downloading the game from the Windows Store or Xbox. The free-to-play game showed up as part of a paid Xbox Game Pass subscription, while there were problems with the launch as well. Microsoft suggested a reboot of the consoles to solve the persistent issues.

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Halo community director Brian Jarrard said some players did experience errors on launch as the build was still publishing and rolling out.

The game is now working on Xbox and on PC via Steam. Some users have reported longer load times. On Xbox, the game is a 25GB install; for Steam, it is 26GB.

343 Industries first previewed the Halo Infinite multiplayer mode in July. A preview in September was made available to all Xbox players.

Originally appeared on: TheSpuzz