Early beta access for Halo Infinite’s free-to-play multiplayer mode has garnered a ton of attention since its surprise release, and although players are having a great time rekindling their love for Halo multiplayer there’s been a continued discourse around its progression systems.
Much of the player progression and unlocks in Halo Infinite are tied to its Battle Pass system – the first season of which is on now and will continue until May 2022 – with the bulk of XP towards both free and premium unlocks earned through challenges. The prevailing criticism of this has been that the XP rewards that players receive for simply logging on and playing the game they way they want to, challenges be damned, have been far too small.
Head of Design at the game’s studio 343 Industries, Jerry Hook, hasn’t been shy about addressing the criticisms, tweeting (in a thread about excellent Aussie indie game Len’s Island no less) that he is “feeling everyone’s pain on progression” and assuring fans that fixing this is a top priority for the development team:
Yes I am still playing Halo and feeling everyone’s pain on progression. We are back at it next week and this will be top of my list with the team.
— jerry hook (@hookscourt) November 28, 2021
Following up on this, 343’s Community Manager John Junyszek has provided an update on one of the changes that will be implemented. Adding to the “play one game” daily challenge recently introduced in an update, there will also be an increased XP payout for players’ first six matches each day as described in the below tweet:
1st Game = 300XP
2nd Game = 200XP
3rd Game = 200XP
4th Game = 100XP
5th Game = 100XP
6th Game = 100XP
7th+ Game = 50XPWe believe this increase will help address those slower initial payouts while also benefiting those of you jumping on each and every day.
— John Junyszek (@Unyshek) November 30, 2021
It’s refreshing to see the honesty and transparency coming out of 343 in admitting where they’ve fallen short and how they’re going to address it, despite the multiplayer portion still being in a beta state. Hopefully that momentum continues and brings the mode to a state that keeps as many people engaged and coming back as possible.
