Halo Infinite is letting in non-Insiders for this weekend's big team battle beta
As long as you have an Insider friend
This weekend's Halo Infinite beta is bigger than before, both in player invites going out and in the matches you'll tackle. Registered Halo Insiders have been getting their hands on with Halo Infinite's multiplayer in 343's recent beta tests and now this weekend you can too. Well, maybe, provided you can pester a friend invite code out of a pal of yours who's already an Insider. If you find yourself queued up to play, you'll be participating in those chaotic 12v12 spartan matches Friday through Sunday.
343 explain the details in a post laying out how players on different platforms can get in. Xbox players, the lucky folks, are all invited. Here on PC though, you'll need to either be an Insider already and get your invite that way or get a Steam key from an Insider friend who's redeemed one in Halo Waypoint. More details on redeeming those are over here if you've not done it before.
For this test, you'll have four arena maps available—Live Fire, Bazaar, Recharge, and Behemoth—with Slayer, Capture The Flag, and Strongholds game modes. The focus though, 343 have said, are the big team battles. Those will be the Total Control game mode taking place on the Fragmentation map.
As for more on PC access, 343's community director Brian "Ske7ch" Jarrard posted earlier this week that they're looking to bring more PC folks in. "Note for Steam players-stand by, we are also working on a way to hopefully get more of you in as well. More details when we have 'em."
No details on that just yet though, it looks like, so continue keeping an eye out for now.
The RPS crewmates who've gotten their hands on Infinite already seem to be having a swell time with it. Ed says it reminds him of old Halo in the best way. "I'm super excited to see 343 have turned back the clock," he says. "It looks and plays like those grand memories of Halo 3 and Reach, with a few small additions that add to the fun without muddying that Halo identity."
Brendan Caldwell has gotten his boots on the ground too, saying that Infinite's maps are vintage multiplayer jungle gyms.
Perhaps I've now formally graduated to curmudgeon gamer status, but all this talk of old Halo is the closest I've come to going back since the days I too spent a frightening number of hours in Halo 3. Like Ed, I also miss the simplicity of spartans prior to jetpacks.
Halo Infinite launches at last on December 8th over on Steam. It will of course also be coming to Xbox Game Pass for PC.
Here's a reminder on those scheduled times for this weekend, kicking off the first play session at 6pm BST (10am PDT) this Friday:
BSTPT
- Friday 1st October - 6pm to 10pm, then Saturday 2nd October 1am to 5am
- Saturday 2nd October - 6pm to 10pm, then Sunday 3rd October 1am to 5am
- Sunday 3rd October - 6pm to 10pm, then Monday 4th October 1am to 5am
- Friday 1st October - 10am to 2pm, and 5pm to 9pm
- Saturday 2nd October - 10am to 2pm, and 5pm to 9pm
- Sunday 3rd October - 10am to 2pm, and 5pm to 9pm