Halo Infinite's Fall Update: New Features and Modes to Revive the Game?

Halo may be one of the most legendary video game franchises of all time, but its position has been unstable over the last few years with the lukewarm reception of Halo Infinite, the latest mainline title.

Even with hints that the next Halo game could be slated for announcement as early as next year, though, the newly rebranded Halo Studios hasn't given up on Halo Infinite. The Fall 2025 Update has just arrived, and it brings with it a substantial amount of added content and features.

It's probably too late to convince me to reinstall Halo Infinite at this point, but I'm still happy to see the game get some much-needed treatment. Here's what you need to know about the most recent Halo Infinite update, starting with Operation: Shadows.

Operation: Shadows and a whole lot more Halo Infinite

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Halo Infinite's "Fall 2025 Update" introduces a ton of new changes and content on its own, and it also lays the groundwork for a total of three limited-time Operations with new game modes, additions, and rewards (and the first kicks off with this update).

You can check out the preview at HaloWaypoint.com for more information, but I'll quickly summarize what to expect right here.

• New vehicle. First up is the UNSC Falcon, a new flying vehicle that seats five Spartans (one cockpit, two jump seats, a grenade launcher, and a turret). It has been added to Forge and five Big Team Battle maps, and fills a hole that I feel was missing from the current Halo Infinite garage.
• New weapon. The Vestige Carbine is also here, a new Covenant rifle that fires iconic green projectiles with speed and precision. Lore-wise it's a relic from a past era, but for Spartans it's a new tool to quickly dispatch opponents at range.
• New modes. There are also two new game modes. One, Famished Famished Falcons, is basically Capture-the-Flag but with nothing but Falcons, encouraging team play in an intense, extended dogfight. There's also Banished Slayer, an asymmetric game mode that equips one team with UNSC gear and the other with Covenant and Banished tech.
• New Operation Pass. Operation: Shadows kicks off with a free 20-tier Operation Pass featuring a new armor set, while a premium 50-tier Operation Pass is available for those who want it all, with four complete armor sets and plenty of other cosmetic items. There will also be new items and bundles in the store.
• Forge updates & more. Not long after the news that many Halo Forgers have given up, the Forge has gotten a not insignificant update with new radial menus, custom input mapping, message options, and more, in addition to the new Falcon and Vestige Carbine. That's on top of a ton of other miscellaneous additions and improvements, including weapon and game mode balancing, bug fixes, more community spotlight maps, expanded Weapon Bench customization support, and more.

Reception from the dwindling Halo Infinite player base has been positive regarding this update, and I've also seen multiple people claiming this update has made them want to reinstall and revisit the game.

I won't be one of those players, though.

It's still too little too late for me, but I'm happy to see Halo breathing

I may be in the minority, but I truly loved Halo Infinite even at launch. I put in the time to 100% the main campaign, and I poured dozens of hours into the multiplayer, even when many called it content anemic.

My love for the game's truly stellar foundation couldn't outlast the underwhelming post-launch support from Halo Studios (then 343 Industries), though. It took far too long for Halo Infinite to gain meaningful new features and content, and my interest was drawn away by other games.

Now that we're here, I'm truly happy to see Halo Infinite continue to get support. Genuinely, this game finally delivers on the potential of its foundations and is an excellent first-person shooter with a ton of content.

But with the potential of a new Halo on the horizon and months separating me from my last Infinite match, there's still not enough here to convince me to reinstall the game and return for some more Spartan-on-Spartan action.

Halo Infinite isn't dead yet and just had a fair bit of new life breathed into it, but I still can't help but feel like its days are numbered, and that's saddening.

Halo Infinite's Fall 2025 Update, alongside Operation: Shadows, is now available across Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Windows PC, and Xbox Game Pass.