New Halo Infinite battle royale mode launches with 3 maps, fresh mechanics, and more on Xbox and PC
By bringing battle royale to Halo Infinite, The Forge Falcons have done it again.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
What you need to know
The status and even the existence of Certain Affinity’s long-rumored “Project Tatanka” battle royale mode forHalo Infiniteis unclear at this point, with rumors of its cancellation swirling earlier this year. Regardless of whether Tatanka is on the way or not, though, players hoping for a PvP battle royale experience in 343 Industries' free-to-play Xbox and PC shooter don’t have to wait any longer to jump into one.
That’s thanks to the efforts ofThe Forge Falcons, an incredibly talented team of community members using Halo Infinite’s Forge level editor to build custom gameplay experiences for players. Best known for creating the Survive the Undead CoD: Zombies modethat got added to Halo Infinite matchmaking earlier this month, The Forge Falcons also made a Halo Infinite battle royale called Inheritor that just got a big relaunch. Now, it’s simply called “Halo Battle Royale” (bookmark ithere), and it’s got a suite of impactful changes and additions for players to check out.
Matches begin aboard a Pelican dropship that everyone drops out of, with players given the option to glide for up to 10 seconds to where they want to land or to activate a custom piece of equipment that drops them to the ground instantly. From there, it’s a fight to survive against up to 23 other players and AI-controlled enemies and emerge victorious as the last Spartan standing, with everyone in the lobby getting a single respawn (for a total of two lives). Right now, there’s only a “solos” free-for-all (FFA) version of the mode available, but The Forge Falcons is working to add squad-based variants and team-based 12v12, 8v8v8, and 6v6v6v6 options, too.
The mode’s shrinking playable space — a feature found in every battle royale that facilitates engagements between players — is fully dynamic, with seven randomized phases that ensure the pace of the match varies from game to game. Additionally, the loot boxes around the maps that give players weapons and pickups when opened have random spawn locations and custom loot pools based on their rarity (from most to least common: green, blue, purple, yellow), adding more of the unpredictability and replayability that fans of the genre enjoy. There are even special “loot cave” caches you might stumble across as you move around the map; these have red “Mythic” loot boxes that contain some of the best items in the mode’s sandbox.
•Best Xbox / PC headsets in 2024•Best upcoming Xbox/PC games•Best Xbox controllers•Best Xbox accessories•Best small gaming PCs•Best gaming laptops in 2024
Currently, Halo Battle Royale has three custom-made maps:Forerunner, a stage set around ancient ruins and UNSC bases with “a wide range of gameplay” engagements;Reclaimer, an abandoned city with massive skyscrapers that promotes a large amount of vertical movement; andInheritor, a map at a UNSC mining facility with lots of trees, underground tunnels, and points of interest. Be careful if you go down into the mines on that last one — The Forge Falconssay"the Flood don’t come too kindly to" them, so you might find some unsettling threats down there.
Note that while you can (and should) bookmark the mode and its maps so you can host play sessions with friends, you can also play Halo Battle Royale by looking for groups playing it with Halo Infinite’s built-in Custom Games Browser. This is generally the best way to jump into fan-made Forge experiences like this one, and will make finding games a breeze.
To be honest, I’ve never been a huge fan of battle royale — I got my fill of it back during the 2017 PUBG era — so I probably won’t be playing this mode too much. Still, I know there are a ton of folks who’ve wanted a quality battle royale experience in Halo Infinite for alongtime, and I’m glad there’s finally one on the table. Sure, it’s not made by 343 Industries, but given that The Forge Falcons just got a mode into official matchmaking, it’s safe to say that the quality of the team’s work speaks for itself.
Get the Windows Central Newsletter
All the latest news, reviews, and guides for Windows and Xbox diehards.
What Iwillbe playing a ton of, though, isthe Helldivers 2 mode the team is making for Halo Infinite. The Forge Falcons plan to release it on June 28, and while I’ll be deep inElden Ring’s Shadow of the Erdtree expansionat that time, I’m definitely going to jump into the ambitious co-op experience in July. With custom-built stratagem call-ins, a wide variety of main and side objectives, escalating difficulty, and longform upgrades, it’s aiming to bring the thrill and intensity of Arrowhead’s PvE shooter to Xbox and PC fans (Helldivers 2, while available on PC, is a PS5 console exclusive).
Halo Infinite multiplayer is free-to-play (its campaign costs $59.99, but is also onXbox Game Pass), and it’s one of thebest Xbox gamesandbest PC gamesfor folks who enjoy science fiction and arena shooters. While it’s certainly gone through some steep peaks and deep valleys over time, the fact you can play awesome Forge experiences like this one in it makes it worth the download.
Brendan Lowry is a Windows Central writer and Oakland University graduate with a burning passion for video games, of which he’s been an avid fan since childhood. He’s been writing for Team WC since the summer of 2017, and you’ll find him doing news, editorials, reviews, and general coverage on everything gaming, Xbox, and Windows PC. His favorite game of all time is probably NieR: Automata, though Elden Ring, Fallout: New Vegas, and Team Fortress 2 are in the running, too. When he’s not writing or gaming, there’s a good chance he’s either watching an interesting new movie or TV show or actually going outside for once.Follow him on X(Twitter).
