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Halo Infinite enjoyed a successful launch earlier this month, racking up more than 250,000 players on its first day on PC before averaging around 150,000 a day since. This was the expected outcome of Halo Infinite’s multiplayer debut, given the excitement around the game through its multiple betas, and especially following its impressive turnaround from its pre-delay state. There have been some concerns and complaints from the Halo Infinite fanbase since, though, that have sparked debate.
Halo Infinite leaks have exposed upcoming events, which have done little to excite fans, while players have also noted the frequency of hackers in multiplayer lobbies as an issue. The latter point especially has had fans debating around the practicality of Halo Infinite’s crossplay, which is a big point of contention for the game. There are undoubtedly many positives and negatives to crossplay, and it can be difficult to know which side to fall on.
The Pros of Crossplay in Halo Infinite
Halo Infinite is available to play now on PC and Xbox consoles following a year-long delay, which pushed the game back from its original release alongside the Xbox Series X and S consoles. Crossplay is available between both Xbox One and current-gen systems, as well as PC. This is great for a couple of reasons, not least of all the choice it offers players to play the latest Halo game on their preferred system. More choice is rarely a bad thing, and given the availability of a diverse range of gaming systems to choose from, it may allow friends to play together where they otherwise would not be able to.
In addition to this, crossplay in Halo Infinite can help to ensure that multiplayer lobbies will remain stocked full of players long after the game’s release. Having one centralized multiplayer hub across multiple systems allows all players to come together, connecting the game's community together.
This was a concern pre-launch, with Twitch streamers claiming Halo Infinite would lose numbers without a battle royale. This may still be somewhat of a concern as Halo Infinite does not have a battle royale mode, and seemingly has no plans for one either. Indeed, much to the dismay of Halo fans, Halo Infinite is even missing a few classic modes of its own, which makes the added numbers of crossplay that much more important.
The Cons of Crossplay in Halo Infinite
Along with the positives of crossplay are always a handful of fairly pervasive negatives, which fans often voice their thoughts on. One of the big issues with cross-platform gaming is the keyboard and mouse versus controller debate. Both sides of this debate seem to think that one has an obvious advantage over the other, either the improved accuracy of a mouse over an analog stick or the auto-correcting influence of aim assist.
In reality, the positives of both even out to a fairly balanced middle ground, and with the ability to change FOV on consoles in Halo Infinite, console and PC players stand on relatively equal footing. Consoles will always be playing catch up when compared to high-end PCs, but for average players, the effects may not be quite so obvious.
Nevertheless, the debates around these topics make crossplay a bit of an issue where fan reception is concerned. This fan reception is more noticeable on other topics such as hackers. As an example, hacking is fairly common in Warzone, another crossplay shooter, which may lead some to some hacker fears in Halo Infinite. In particular, some believe that hacking is more prevalent in PC lobbies, which leaves console players worried that crossplay may increase the frequency of their own encounters with hackers.
Again, this becomes an issue of fan reception, as console players may become frustrated with the frequency of hacking in their own lobbies and attribute the blame to crossplay. Along with the benefits of crossplay come a handful of downsides, which could leave fans disappointed in the long term.
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, 2021.