The surprise release of Halo Infinite's multiplayer this week has gone over well with fans of the series who have been itching to jump back into the fight following the successful multiplayer previews from earlier in the year. Although it's still early, reception to the multiplayer aspect of the game has been overwhelmingly positive, with only one big thing sticking out as an issue: Halo Infinite's battle pass system. On one hand, fans are excited over the fact that battle passes never expire, meaning that anyone who's bought it can spend an infinite amount of time working on progression, but on the other hand, it looks like it might take much longer to make progress than fans want.

Fans have been cautious about Halo Infinite ever since it was delayed in 2020, but as more details about it were revealed, many fears were put to rest. Based on the hands-on previews that 343 Industry has run earlier in the year, Halo's multiplayer seemed like it was going to be a solid component of the game and, so far, that's proving to be true. While fast-paced, arena-style matches featuring finely tuned gameplay is enough for many fans to stick with the game, its progression loop is what's going to keep even more coming back each week. If 343 doesn't fix the battle pass progression soon, then Halo Infinite might not have the longevity that the studio is anticipating.

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The Problems with Halo Infinite's Battle Pass

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The problems with Halo Infinite's battle pass system are pretty straightforward: players are gaining XP far too slow for it to be exciting, as XP is only awarded for completing specific set challenges, not for simply participating in matches. What's more, many fans have cited bugs with the challenges meaning that, despite completing them, they aren't unlocking. As such, progression has slowed to a complete stop for some. This issue means that part of the excitement that comes with playing a competitive online game might be fading sooner rather than later and needs to be addressed.

Fixing Halo Infinite's Battle Pass Quickly is Key

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Luckily for fans, 343 Industries has already begun addressing the issue, with a handful of key employees saying that they've heard the requests for change and are monitoring the situation. Speed will be key for the fix, as initial impressions are huge for competitive online games. If fans feel like they aren't progressing enough right off the bat, they might jump ship from the game for good, even if the issue is fixed at some point down the road.

The marketing surrounding the early release of Halo Infinite's multiplayer mode has been a little bit confusing, with certain Microsoft accounts calling its early release the game's Beta and others saying that it's begun its official first season. If the game is in Beta, then a major change to its battle pass might fit with the expectations of being able to play a game early, but waiting too long to change things with the official start of Halo Infinite's first season might be a misstep. For example, if 343 waits to rehaul the game's battle pass until the official release of the game's campaign on December 8, they might have already turned away too many fans from the multiplayer during the three-week wait.

There's already a lot of promise being shown with Halo Infinite's multiplayer so far, and it would be a shame if it were to lose its audience based on weak battle pass progression. It's a good sign that 343 Industries is already looking to address the problem, so fans are hopeful that a satisfying fix is coming in the next week or so.

Halo Infinite's multiplayer is available now and its campaign releases on December 8 for PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

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