Halo Infinite is getting ready to roll out one of its most significant updates since its release with the upcoming Winter Update. The update will finally be bringing network campaign co-op to Halo Infinite, along with two new maps, an all-new mode, the Forge open beta, a new battle pass, and more.
Despite the understandably immense hype leading up to release, Halo Infinite suffered a rocky launch when it first came out back in December 2021, with players frustrated by a significant number of issues. With several notable 343 Industries developers leaving the studio, the game has struggled to find its place in the highly competitive first-person shooter market. A series of updates coinciding with the game's seasonal content, along with a few major patches in between have helped bring the game more in line with expectations, and the upcoming Winter Update is intended to address some of the biggest issues.
One of the highlights of the Winter Update is the full release of the long-awaited network campaign co-op mode for Halo Infinite. Network co-op will place players according to the furthest-behind player in the campaign, allowing them to experience the story in its intended order. All progress made for all players is saved, so every co-op player can interact with collectibles they find during the session. Players can bring their own skulls into the fireteam and can engage in traditional Halo co-op griefing shenanigans thanks to the ability to kill each other and even deactivate each other's map markers.
Another major addition coming with the update is Halo Infinite's Forge open beta. Halo Infinite's Forge is incredibly robust, allowing players to place 7000 objects on a map compared to Halo 5's limit of 1600. Objects can be scaled up and down freely and customized further through textures, resulting in some incredibly unique creations. A visual scripting language is also included that will allow players without coding knowledge to easily create interesting scripting events and custom game modes. Halo Infinite's bot navmesh will also be usable in Forge, which will introduce bots to custom Halo maps for the first time.
The Halo Infinite Winter Update is also bringing two new maps, Argyle, with its central courtyard surrounded by flanking positions, and Detachment, Halo Infinite's first official map featuring a teleporter. A free 30-tier battle pass, two new events in December and January, mission replays, and a new asymmetrical Covert One Flag mode featuring an invisible attacker team against a defender team equipped with threat sensors are all parts of a much-needed update.
Halo Infinite is now available on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.