The long-awaited return of Master Chief in Halo Infinite is coming with full crossplay and cross-progression between Xbox, PC, and xCloud, as Microsoft begins further integrate its Xbox ecosystem and games. There will be many familiar faces and voices returning in Halo Infinite in Fall 2021, but Microsoft has recently revealed that the game will include plenty of new features not present in past Halo iterations. As Master Chief prepares to face Halo Wars 2's Banished faction, players on Xbox and PC will get to face off against one another in a Halo crossplay experience.

This big Halo Infinite move follows Halo: Master Chief Collection's lead and takes it a step further, as that multi-game compilation released on PC in 2019 and added crossplay with Xbox in late 2020, allowing players on both platforms to enable matchmaking crossplay. As seen with earlier crossplay pioneers like Fortnite, crossplay is valuable for its expansion of available playerbases and is growing increasingly common in modern games. More and more studios are releasing multiplayer games with crossplay features (some optional, some not), but crossplay and cross-progression still aren't staples players can reliably expect quite  yet.

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According to Xbox, Halo Infinite will have both crossplay and cross-progression at launch, fully supporting each across Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PC, and mobile devices. Most unexpected is the full cross-progression support, as it will allow Halo Infinite players to bring their progress (and presumably things like Spartan customization for multiplayer) to their platform of choice as they please. These steps are part of Microsoft’s outlined mission to build its communities around games, rather than around individual platforms.

Halo Infinite E3 2019 Reveal Master Chief Pelican KIA

 

Microsoft’s move to make Halo Infinite crossplay at launch is a huge step for first-party Xbox games, and might set a precedent for future online multiplayer games. Microsoft also confirmed that the PC experience will be a premier one, with features such as ultrawide and super ultrawide screens, triple keybinds, and graphic options, among others. This move will likely make the transition between Halo Infinite on next-gen consoles and PC as seamless as possible. Microsoft will also utilize its cloud gaming to reduce the need for advanced graphics cards and PC systems for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members.

Halo Infinite with crossplay will likely increase its launch-day appeal, especially since PC gaming has become a huge portion of the industry. It could also produce problems for the competitive shooter, as mouse and keyboard players usually have advantage over those using gamepads. It will be interesting to see how Microsoft remedies that discrepancy. Either way, Halo Infinite is shaping up to be intriguing next step for the Halo franchise, combining nostalgia with modern features.

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Halo Infinite will be available on Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and PC in Fall 2021.

Source: Xbox