Halo Infinite Battle Royale : Jack “Courage” Dunlop drew the wrath of a million Halo fans this week when he posted the following on Twitter about Halo Infinite
He went on to say that he expects Halo to have a robust, standard multiplayer mode at launch, and that he assumes this is a given.
A Battle Royale Mode in ‘Halo Infinite’ Makes Sense, And Isn’t It ‘Trend Chasing’?
However, this would be a great opportunity to introduce Halo to millions of young BR gamers.
While I disagree with the statement that the absence of a Halo BR would be “one of the greatest gaming failures in history,” I believe Courage is correct, and Halo Infinite launching without something akin to a BR would be a huge missed opportunity.
There are already so many pieces in place that it would be strange if Halo squandered this opportunity. Halo has had the following for years:
Big Team Battles with a Large Player Count
Large maps are required to accommodate them (with Infinite having even larger potential maps with its more open world)
As a main component of multiplayer, the lone wolf free-for-all
From Warthogs to Ghosts to Banshees, the focus is on map-spanning vehicular combat.
Weapons that are standardised to ensure a level playing field for all combatants
Almost every piece is already in place, and it’s not a stretch to imagine hopping into a large Halo Infinite map, equipping yourself with battle rifles and Spartan lasers, hopping into a Warthog to outrun some sort of collapsing security protocol forcefield, and battling to be the last man (or team) standing at the centre.
It’s not chasing a trend; it’s simply a logical step for the series, given that it would be a great way to introduce new players to Halo while sacrificing very little of the core Halo experience.
And are Microsoft and 343 supposed to look at Call of Duty Warzone’s massive success (which was probably more trending chasing-y) and say, “nah, we’re good”?
Yes, Halo has been a leader in the shooter space rather than a follower since its inception, but I wouldn’t want pride to get in the way of implementing a mode that makes a lot of sense for the series, and it’s too bad if it’s popularised by games that aren’t Halo.
Because of the success of PUBG, Fortnite was created. Warzone exists as a result of Fortnite’s success.
Etc. While the BR market may be somewhat saturated by now, Halo is the only one who can break through at this point.
While 343 hasn’t been shy about talking about Halo Infinite since its year-long delay last fall, we haven’t heard anything like this.
However, with only a few months until launch, we’ll have to wait and see if this is still a possibility.
Or after, given that Infinite is supposed to serve as the foundation for a lot of future Halo content.
Update: I forgot about this quote from a 343 dev from 2019 when asked about a possible BR mode:
“The Battle Rifle is the only BR we’re interested in.”
