Microsoft releases Halo Infinite’s multiplayer in advance of the game’s launch

The multiplayer beta for “Halo Infinite” is now open to players on Xbox and PC, Microsoft announced during a livestream celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Xbox console. It’s also the twentieth anniversary of Halo: Combat Evolved. This is a huge milestone for the beleaguered Halo Infinite team, which has split the single-player and multiplayer components of the game for the first time in the series’ history. It a big surprise that the release comes well in advance of the full games Dec. 8 release date.

Halo Infinite’s early multiplayer release is being described as a “multiplayer beta,” offering a preview of the game’s first season of content. The developer said that progression made in the beta of Halo Infinite will carry over to the full release next month. Halo Infinite’s official December release will not include the entirety of the game’s content offerings, however. 343 Industries still has Forge mode and the cooperative campaign to deliver, which won’t happen until 2022. The developer has additional content planned for Halo Infinite.

In a longer version of the announcement, head of creative on “Halo Infinite” Joseph Staten revealed that the beta includes all of the maps and modes that would be available on day one of the game’s launch. “Importantly, with the Season 1 extension, we aren’t just stretching-out our original Season 1 plan,” Joseph Staten wrote. “We took this opportunity to add additional events, customization items and other content to Season 1 to make it an even richer experience from start to finish.” All player progress made in the beta will carry over to the full release, including unlocks made as part of the season one battle pass, which will run until May 2022.