343 Industries shares feedback from Halo Infinite Season 1, plans for Season 2

What you need to know

• 343 Industries and Xbox Game Studios intend to evolve and improve Halo Infinite immeasurably for years to come.
• The next big step in this journey is the arrival of Halo Infinite Season 2: Lone Wolves, which is expected to release on May 3, 2022.
• Ahead of its release, 343i has shared an overview of the feedback it has collected from the community throughout Season 1.
• This includes information on changes, fixes, and improvements coming to Halo Infinite as a direct result of this feedback.

Halo Infinite represents the latest generation of one of the greatest first-person shooter franchises, and in many ways succeeds at laying the groundwork for what Halo will be for years to come. The game is far from perfect, however, and a lot of improvements are expected to arrive alongside Halo Infinite's second multiplayer season, which will include new content, fixes, quality-of-life additions, and much more.

A lot of what's coming with Halo Infinite Season 2: Lone Wolves is only possible because of the constant feedback submitted by the Halo community since launch. On Friday, 343 Industries shared an overview of feedback collected during Halo Infinite Season 1, including how this feedback is translating to changes and fixes coming to Halo Infinite in Season 2 and beyond.

This "outcomes" report covers a wide range of topics that has attracted the focus (and ire) of the Halo Infinite community, like multiplayer maps and game modes, weapon and equipment balancing, accessibility, Ranked multiplayer, cross-play and PC anti-cheat, and more. There's genuinely a ton of information contained within the report, with detailed information on how 343i is responding to the feedback and, often, rough timelines when changes can be expected. Highlights of the report include:

• Reaffirmation that new multiplayer content is coming. Halo Infinite Season 2, on top of bringing a new Battle Pass and all the rewards and challenges contained within, is also bringing:
  • A new "Catalyst" Arena map on day one
  • A new "Breaker" BTB map on day one
  • Confirmation that new maps are coming in the future and are currently in the works
  • New and improved King of the Hill game mode added to multiple playlists on day one
  • Return of Attrition game mode in multiple playlists on day one
  • The arrival of endless Weapon Drills in the Academy
  • The debut of new Elimination game mode at some point during Season 2
• Multiplayer and weapon balancing. Balancing is always a huge point of contention with any competitive multiplayer game, and Halo Infinite is no exception. Season 2 and beyond is expected to bring plenty of alterations to, hopefully, make the game more balanced and fair, including:
  • Equal and symmetrical vehicle drops and Weapon Rack spawns, especially in BTB
  • Better anti-cheat, as well as more streamlined ways to report players
  • Decreased weapon melee damage for all weapons, which reduces the effectiveness of the Mangler, in particular
  • Increased base shot damage from the Ravager
  • Future balance changes considered for the Pulse Carbine, Plasma Pistol, and VK78 Commando
  • The addition of a lighter, faster "melee" attack for the Gravity Hammer in a future update
  • Improvements to Rocket Launcher splash damage radius to make it feel more consistent
  • Greater performance for the Drop Shield and Overshield equipment
  • Increased splatter damage for the Chopper vehicle
  • Various buffs for the Banshee, including increased weapon damage and agility
  • Improved handling for the Warthog and Razorback
• New accessibility features. While none of these features or changes were confirmed to be arriving with Halo Infinite Season 2, 343i confirmed it's investigating or working on new accessibility features, including:
  • New settings to make movement, especially sprint, more accessible
  • Ability to expose more of Halo Infinite's color settings, especially over a color channel filter
  • Ability to play Halo Infinite entirely without audio with audio visualization, which is in an early exploratory stage
• The return of Jeff Steitzer in BTB. Legendary Halo announcer Jeff Steitzer is returning to announce Medals in Halo Infinite's Big Team Battle game modes with Season 2.
• Ranked multiplayer changes. Halo Infinite features Ranked multiplayer, which pits the very best Halo Infinite players against one another in intense, close-quarters tactical combat. In Season 2 and beyond, 343i is looking to improve the quality and fairness of Ranked multiplayer with changes including:
  • The arrival of the Champion rank in a future update
  • Changing the CSR progression bar to update and show progress for every match, instead of the entire session
  • More regular playlist updates and changes
• Other quality-of-life improvements. Alongside all of this, 343i is working on a wide variety of quality-of-life improvements for Halo Infinite, including (but certainly not limited to):
  • Improved audio mixing, including quieter third-person shield recharging sounds, increased volume for the Grunt Birthday sound effect in the Campaign, and rebalancing for in-game chatter from AI, Spartans, and more
  • Rebalanced ranges for the Motion Tracker, especially for sprinting players, shooting, and vehicles outside of the standard Motion Tracker range
  • Ensuring players in your party actually appear in your Squad during BTB matches
  • New Custom Game options and settings
  • A Custom Games Browser, which is in the early stages of production
  • Improved PC stability with fixes for a ton of potential crashing issues, and work on further PC optimization in the future
  • Improved UI and UX, especially for the customization menus
  • Challenges appearing in the in-game Pause Menu (static with Season 2, but possibly dynamic in the future)
  • Improvements to HUD customization, starting with the ability to move grenade and equipment UI to be next to the Motion Tracker
  • Improving the "flow" process to mute players in-game, like from the Scoreboard
  • Improved messaging for when players are booted or placed on cool-down

Halo Infinite has enjoyed a controversial existence so far, with most players praising the Halo Infinite campaign, but many others expressing frustration over the multiplayer's lack of content and the general lack of improvement since launch. Hopefully, Halo Infinite Season 2 will go a long way toward addressing these concerns and ensuring Halo Infinite receives more regular updates, fresh content, and improvements moving forward.

Halo Infinite is already one of the best Xbox games you can play, but it's clear the game is far from being perfect. 343i has a lot of plans to improve Halo Infinite with its Season 2 update arriving in around a month, as well as beyond that. In the meantime, the team is still depending on the community to be forthcoming with its feedback and constructive criticism.