Microsoft has revealed that subscribers to the Ultimate tier of its Xbox Game Pass service will get access to monthly bonuses in Halo Infinite’s multiplayer.
In a blog post covering some of the new titles that will be coming to Game Pass over the next month, the company says, “It’s an awesome time for Perks because we’re excited to reveal that Ultimate members will be locked in to get monthly Halo Infinite Multiplayer bonuses.” The first bonuses will be made available on December 8, when Halo Infinite’s multiplayer officially launches alongside its campaign.
The post confirms that the December 8 bonuses will include the “exclusive ‘Pass Tense’ MA40 Assault Rifle coating” as well as “four 2XP Boosts, and four Challenge Swaps”. This is, of course, in addition to getting access to the game’s full release as part of the subscription.
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Halo Infinite won’t be the only game Ultimate subscribers will get perks in this month; Dauntless, Apex Legends and World of Warships: Legends were also on the list. And as for new games coming to Game Pass before we go into 2022, you can expect to see Stardew Valley, Among Us, Final Fantasy XIII-2 and more.
Analysis: Preparing to launch
Halo Infinite’s official launch date is December 8 so the game’s multiplayer is still technically in beta. While players have found much to like in its gameplay, problems with cheating are causing concern and its Battle Pass has been subject to a fair amount of criticism.
Amidst frustration around slow progression in the game’s Battle Pass, those XP boosts and challenge swaps that are included in the Game Pass Ultimate perks are likely to be welcome to subscribers. But they may well raise the eyebrows of some non-subscribers.
343 Industries has been taking steps to improve the game based on player feedback and at the end of November community manager John Junyszek announced an XP increase for the first six matches of each day. Junyszek said he hoped the change would help players jumping on “each and every day” but acknowledged “we know many of you want even larger changes and we're committed to doing so, but those will take time.”
When we made our initial change to progression, which added Daily "Play 1 Game" Challenges, updated Weekly Challenges, and doubled the duration of 2XP Boosts, we promised that we'd monitor the data and make additional changes if needed. Now, it's time to follow up on that.November 30, 2021
When Halo Infinite’s multiplayer launches on December 8, Microsoft has confirmed that any progress made in the beta will carry over. As for that highly-anticipated campaign, we went hands on with it recently and found a lot to like in the first four missions.
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