One of the most controversial parts of Halo Infinite has been its approach to progression, as originally it would only reward players with XP for completing challenges and not for how they performed in a match. This is all about to change as Halo Infinite’s Winter Update will add match and performance-based XP when it is released on November 8.
As detailed on Halo Waypoint, the Match XP Beta is part of 343 Industries’ mission to address player feedback in regard to progression. With Match XP, “players will be rewarded for playing whatever mode they want, and your performance in those matches will tie into those rewards.” Furthermore, the “majority of XP” will come from Match XP as opposed to Challenges.
On November 8, Match XP will award players with XP for such things as completing matches and being on the winning team as well as rewarding them with more XP for where they stand on the end-of-match placement.
343 has said it is calling this “Match XP Beta” as it is going to “be monitoring the values for each reward category, adjusting them as we move forwards with this new model.” This means the values will not be final when Match XP arrives and will be adjusted accordingly.
Match XP will be the main driver in progressing the Battle Pass, and Challenges will provide a “bonus boost” to gaining those tiers. The purpose of Challenges, according to 343, is being “redirected” and they will now “primarily serve as the path towards earning customization items each week through the Ultimate Reward.” There will still be XP rewards, but Match XP will be the main source of progression.
343 is updating how Challenges work, and the three “main points” of change are as follows:
We are reducing the number of Challenges required to hit the Ultimate Challenge from 20 to 10All Challenges in regular weekly decks can be completed in any playlistChallenges are more “general” overall
The Winter Update will also be the first step in making it so “all challenges will be playlist agnostic.” This means that, for now, Event Challenges can still only be completed in Event Playlists, but that will all change in the future.
How do these changes sit with you? Be sure to let us know how you are feeling about the future of Halo and what you’d like to see adjusted.
Alongside Match XP, Halo Infinite players will also be able to look forward to the official launch of Forge Mode on November 8 and the full release of online campaign co-op. Unfortunately, split-screen co-op has been canceled entirely.
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Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.