With this past week's gameplay reveal for Halo Infinite, the Xbox team is much more comfortable discussing certain detail about what Halo Infinite really is. Part of what's been confirmed is that 343 has no plans for future Halo sequels. Halo Infinite is going to be supported for the foreseeable future. But a new rumor hints at even bigger plans for Halo Infinite. It's possible that 343 could launch Halo Infinite's multiplayer mode entirely for free.
The rumor comes from Windows Central, which while noting multiple sources for it very clearly characterizes the rumor as unconfirmed. The brief summary of the rumor is that Halo Infinite will feature free-to-play multiplayer similar to how Call of Duty Warzone is free next to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.
That's the full extent of the rumor, which should hopefully create an air of skepticism around it. Microsoft didn't address multiplayer whatsoever as part of the Xbox Games Showcase, outside of denying a rumor that multiplayer would be delayed past launch. There's very little to go on in terms of substantiating or squashing this rumor.
What can be considered is how much sense the decision to make Halo Infinite's multiplayer free makes. Obviously, if Halo Infinite is going to be a Games as a Service title that provides routine content updates for multiple years, free access to multiplayer a huge positive. It means the most amount of people will be able to play, to get invested in the cycle of content, and likely to invest in whatever monetization scheme Halo Infinite's multiplayer will have.
It might also explain why Halo Infinite's single-player/co-op campaign is said to be so massive. 343 explained that the Halo Infinite campaign will be the size of both Halo 4 and Halo 5 combined. It would need to be if it's going to be a full-priced game while multiplayer is free. Those who buy Halo Infinite will certainly expect some kind of reward in multiplayer, though.
Finally, and most importantly, is the question if a free-to-play multiplayer mode in Halo Infinite fits with Xbox's Game Pass plans. Obviously, with Halo Infinite included in Game Pass, many players won't be paying for Halo Infinite's multiplayer directly anyway. Capitalizing on those Game Pass subscribers with GaaS design is already a smart decision. Extending that to free-to-play users makes even more sense, at least from a monetization perspective.
In other words, a free-to-play multiplayer mode for Halo Infinite does fit with all of 343's plans as they've been revealed so far. It would still devalue the full game, so 343 would have to prove Halo Infinite is worth buying without multiplayer included. That may not matter so much if Xbox's priority is Game Pass, however. There's a lot left for Microsoft to discuss about its plans for late 2020. This Halo Infinite free-to-play rumor is likely to only add to the mixed feelings.
Halo Infinite releases holiday 2020 on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
Source: Windows Central