Halo Infinite is one this year's most anticipated games, with fans around the world itching to get their hands on the full release. Much of Halo Infinite's anticipation comes from 343 Industries transparent development updates, letting fans know what they can expect in the game, and the two massive multiplayer test flights that occured over previous months. The game's initial reveal was a disappointment to a lot of fans in 2020, but after a year's delay and finally being able to try the game out themselves, fans' opinions and hope for the title has flipped. Halo Infinite's multiplayer balances the traditional arena gameplay with new additions that seem very promising.
Going into November 15, there was a lot of speculation that Halo Infinite's multiplayer would be surprise released today, as it is the 20th Anniversary of Xbox and Halo. Sure enough, at the end of the Xbox Anniversary event, Joseph Staten and the rest of 343 Industries announced that Halo Infinite's multiplayer beta is now live. Despite the Beta tagline, this is in fact, Halo Infinite's multiplayer in its true form, letting players access and rank up in Season 1: Heroes of Reach, will all progression carrying over when Halo Infinite fully releases in December. Since it is releasing on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S, as well as Day One on Xbox Game Pass, there are many ways to access the beta regardless of platform.
Halo Infinite Multiplayer Beta Through Xbox Game Pass
Xbox Game Pass is available on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S, but how players access and use it varies per platform. Starting on PC, players must first make sure they have the Xbox App downloaded from the Microsoft Store—not to be confused with the Xbox Game Bar app. Next, players should find the "Search" bar in the top right of the page and enter "Halo Infinite," which will return two listings: one for Halo Infinite's Campaign, and one for the Multiplayer with the Game Pass stamp on it. Clicking on that listing will bring users to the Halo Infinite Game Pass page where they can choose to install and play it.
For Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S users, they should simply navigate to their Xbox Game Pass app and follow the same steps of searching for the game and selecting the multiplayer version. It is worth noting that if players chose to pre-install Halo Infinite through Game Pass, then the blue "Install" button will instead say "Play." There will also now be a "Get" icon, which has to do with the second way of playing the Beta: the Microsoft Store.
Halo Infinite Multiplayer Beta Through Microsoft Store
Halo Infinite's multiplayer is free-to-play so it only makes that it has its own listing on the Microsoft Store. Following the same steps as before, players should navigate to either the Microsoft Store app on their PC or Xbox console, and enter Halo Infinite into the Search bar. Once again, they will be met with two options, Halo Infinite's Campaign, and its Multiplayer, and players should click on the latter. Finally, players can click and download the free Multiplayer Beta, which they can start from the Store or back in their Game Library.
Halo Infinite Multiplayer Beta Through Steam
Steam is one of the most common game launchers on PC, and is often preferred by many over the Xbox for PC apps. Although Steam looks quite different from Microsoft's presentation style, players will follow the same steps to access the Halo Infinite Multiplayer Beta here as they would on the Microsoft Store. Searching for Halo Infinite will return the free-to-play Multiplayer, and full-price Campaign options, where players should select the former. About halfway down the page on the next screen will be an option for users to purchase the free-to-play version of the game, which after downloading, will finally give players access to the Multiplayer Beta.
Halo Infinite's Multiplayer Beta is available now on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S, with the full game releasing on December 8.