Halo Infinite‘s multiplayer will introduce a lot of new concepts to the long-running franchise. Besides new gameplay mechanics, the game’s multiplayer will be entirely free-to-play, a first for any Halo title. Being a free-to-play title comes with its own specific features, including battle passes. However, according to a post on Halo Waypoint, Infinite‘s battle passes won’t be “a grind for players.”
Battle passes for Halo Infinite already have a rather open and generous design. Passes won’t expire at the end of each season, and players will be able to purchase previous battle passes to get their hands on content and cosmetics they may have missed out on. These features are practically unheard of in other free-to-play or live service titles, which treat battle passes and their contents as timed exclusives. Players won’t have any FOMO in Infinite, though.
Players will also be able to own multiple battle passes simultaneously and choose which they progress through.
With so much content being based around battle passes, and inevitably getting more experience points, Halo Infinite live team design director Ryan Paradis stressed that players wouldn’t have to grind. “First and foremost,” Paradis said in a post on Halo Waypoint, “we’re working hard to ensure that the battle pass isn’t a ‘grind’ for players. We want it to be a supplemental rewards stream for the time you were already putting into the game.”
The same post also revealed the theme of Halo Infinite‘s first season: Halo Reach. Titled “Heroes of Reach,” players will likely be able to deck their Spartans out in some of Noble Team’s iconic armor sets.
