343 Industries have announced a string of changes scheduled for online multiplayer Halo Infinite’s Season 3, and it looks like the shop is at the top of this list.
Halo Infinite’s shop is getting a significant overhaul with super bundles, half-weekly resets, and new dailies becoming a regular part of the woodwork. The super bundles are particularly interesting as these will allow players to buy multiple item bundles at once for a lower price.
While 343 Industries are still experimenting with the shop layout, these modifications are more or less here for the long haul. “The philosophy behind this experimental change is to deliver more valuable bundles at a reduced price out of the gate”, community writer Alex Wakeford said in a blog post.
Good ol’ times
Unfortunately, this FPS game isn’t known for its user-friendly monetization. Currently, the shop favors paid cosmetics rather than free items that players can earn through playtime and completing challenges.
These paid items are also historically somewhat overpriced, with developers and players tussling for more reasonable pricing since Infinite’s release. In this sense, the monetization struggle mimics what is currently happening with Overwatch 2, as the community severely rebuked the initial expensive bundles and cosmetics.
According to Reddit user crisperstorm, 72% of the cosmetics in Infinite cost real money, with only a mere 4.5% being free and available at all times. While it’s fair to say that the development team needs some way to make money, especially as Halo Infinite's multiplayer is free-to-play, expensive store items aren’t the best way forward.
3 steps forward, and 43 steps back?
After all of the frustration levied against the Halo Infinite cosmetics shop, it’s refreshing to know that the 343 has been thinking along the same lines. However, we have yet to see whether this new system of time-sensitive items and super bundles will benefit players.
One problem with introducing these super bundles is what it encourages players to do. On the one hand, it’s great to have more cosmetics for a lower price, but on the other, this is ultimately encouraging players to spend more money than usual.
An example of this amoral spending behavior is that the super bundles are only available for the first three weeks of the Battle Pass and come out before players can buy items within it individually. These factors support a time-sensitive pressure that may sway players to spend more cash earlier in case the deals don’t get better.
This isn’t to say it's all doom and gloom for Halo Infinite; the fact that 343 Industries are still developing new ways to enhance the store clearly shows a willingness to adapt and improve existing features. Hopefully, these changes will continue and allow Infinite to become monetarily more viable for developers and players alike.
