As 343 Industries have continued to lay out what microtransactions will look like in the free-to-play standalone Halo Infinite multiplayer, responses from fans have become increasingly volatile, with the latest outrage caused by an $8 charge for a blue coat of armor paint.
Halo Infinite shocked many fans when it was revealed that not only would the Microsoft exclusive be coming to PC from day one, but also that it would feature an entirely free-to-play multiplayer mode. Without a paid barrier of entry, no doubt 343 predicted that this business model would open up Halo Infinite to new players, and broaden the game's playerbase to reach a wider audience. Like other popular free-to-play titles such as Apex Legends, Fortnite and Call of Duty: Warzone, a zero cost entry fee often brings about a rise in players, as people can pick up the game with only their time and the storage on their console or PC to worry about.
As with the multiplayer games listed above, Halo Infinite's multiplayer is making up for its losses in being free-to-play by introducing microtransactions. Players of the sci-fi shooter can purchase XP boosts, Challenge Swaps (where a player swaps out one of their weekly challenges in game), and most importantly, cosmetics. Now, with Fortnite having hundreds of skins spanning over multiple battle passes, the question arises as to why Halo Infinite's microtransactions have sparked such outrage.
Halo as a franchise has a long history of allowing its players to unlock every piece of armor through grinding out the game. In Halo: Reach for example, a player could only unlock the best pieces of gear through play, and would wear those helmets and armor as a badge of honour. It appears those days are finally behind us though, as Halo Infinite will only allow unlocking gear either through a Battle Pass, which only unlocks armor pieces and decent looking gear at the highest of levels, or through paying incredibly high prices.
Leaked originally by dataminers earlier this week, it was estimated that if a Halo Infinite player wished to unlock every piece of armor, they would have to spend over $1,000. This focus on microtransactions and forcing players to pay for nearly every unlockable seems a far leap from 343's earlier promises of "a player-first mentality." That is not even to mention the color schemes, which are also suffering from being overpriced. As seen in the image above, if a player wishes to put a fresh coat of paint on their armor it will cost them $8.
Many players on Reddit and other social media are calling for a boycott for the Halo Infinite online store. While 343 have to make money somehow from a free-to-play multiplayer system, the microtransaction prices, as they currently are, are a step too far for many.
Halo Infinite multiplayer is available in beta right now.