Halo Infinite receiving final Season of content, will switch to smaller updates from now on

In a developer livestream, it has been confirmed that Season 5 will be the last “season” of post-launch content that Halo Infinite will receive. The game will continue to receive more modest updates and support in the form of smaller “Operation” events with shorter battle passes from January 20th 2024 onwards as developer 343 Industries begins to pivot towards new projects.

“We’re making a shift in how we’re approaching [Halo] Infinite going forward,” advised 343’s senior community manager, John Junyszek during the live stream. “For [Master Chief Collection] players this is probably going to sound very familiar. The gist of it is, we’re no longer referring to ‘seasons’ – we’re shifting away from seasons.”

“For us here at the studio, it’s going to be an exciting year for Halo. We have a dedicated team working on supporting Halo Infinite and continuing to deliver going forward, but also yes, we have additional teams that are accelerating towards the future working on brand new projects… there are a lot of things cooking here.”

These smaller Operations events will contain shorter 20-tier battle passes which run for four-to-six week periods. It is far from a cessation of support from the game altogether, however it does signal a shift away from Halo Infinite getting the kind of regular support that other large live service multiplayer shooters such as Apex Legends and Fortnite have continued to receive. Halo Infinite itself had something of a turbulent launch when it released back in 2021, having lacked several much-anticipated game modes at launch. The game’s progression systems and battle passes were particularly criticised despite solid gameplay and a well-liked open world single player campaign.

This announcement also comes not long after the reveal that a Halo battle royale game had been cancelled mid-development. 343 Industries, along with many other Microsoft studios, has experienced substantial layoffs to its workforce over the past year as well. Halo Infinite is expected to receive at least a modest amount of additional content for the foreseeable future, but it is more likely that we will see 343 Industries shifting towards the announcement of new projects in the Halo universe before long.