Fans of the Halo series have been waiting for quite a while for the sixth main title in the franchise, Halo Infinite. It has been six years since the release of Halo 5: Guardians and, in addition to that, the launch date of Halo Infinite was pushed to Holiday 2021, due to a range of factors including the coronavirus pandemic. The delay allowed developer 343 Industries to polish Halo Infinite's graphics and performance, two elements that were highly criticized after a gameplay reveal in July 2020.

Halo Infinite will offer a free-to-play multiplayer mode that will support 120 fps on Xbox Series X, and the first season of the game will be based on 2010’s Halo Reach, one of the more acclaimed entries in the series. The mode will feature a number of fan-requested touches like equal starts, so that all players jump into the fray with identical equipment, and crossplay across Xbox consoles and PC.

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Today, invites began to go out for the first technical preview, which will focus on multiplayer and testing the performance of the bots in Halo Infinite's Academy mode. The preview will run through the weekend, from July 29 to August 1, and participants will receive an additional email in the next few days with details about the test and instructions on how to download the Halo Infinite pre-release build.

Those who didn’t receive an invite to this latest beta test, known as a Flight, should make sure they are members of the Halo Insider Program, which allows fans to participate in hands-on early access tests of Halo games during development and provide feedback. Each Flight has specific goals, and so not all Insiders will make it into every test. Brian Jarrard, Community Director at 343 Industries, confirmed that because this latest tech preview is specifically to test Halo Infinite’s multiplayer mode, a lot of invites will be rolling out.

Multiplayer in Halo Infinite will feature an Academy mode to give newcomers a chance to practice with different weapons, learn some Halo lore, and test their skills against bots. This will give players the opportunity to practice in a multiplayer environment, but without the stress of going head to head with real people who are perhaps more experienced.

The multiplayer technical preview that begins on July 29 will let players try out Halo Infinite’s Weapon Drill modes. This will allow 343 Industries to test how intelligently the bots in the Academy move and react when facing real players, such as their ability to dodge grenades and use the game’s new grappling hook. There will be four levels of bots — Recruit, Marine, ODST, and Spartan — each smarter and more reactive than the previous one.

Halo Infinite is in development for PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

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