Halo 5 Dev Taking Action Against Cheaters, Making Changes to SWAT

Halo 5: Guardians developer 343 Industries is taking action against players who work the system to boost their Req point and XP values or use exploits to gain bonuses they haven't earned. Writing on Halo Waypoint, 343 said it has identified offending players and is enacting bans and other punishments to clean up the virtual battlefield.

"We've been keeping a very close eye on Req point and XP boosting, and the exploits some players are using to idle in matches in an attempt to fill their very own Money Bin with a ton of REQ points and XP," 343 said. "Our data team at the studio has not only caught this behavior, but we've also started taking action against offending accounts, including bans and removal of all REQ points."

343 added: "Most of you need not worry about this, as you're aware that Req points and XP are only awarded for honor and bravery on the battlefield."

The same blog post covers a variety of other Halo 5 subjects. It also mentions that the fan-favorite SWAT mode is changing somewhat. Effective immediately, the respawn timer has been lengthened from 1 second to 3 seconds. According to 343, this should "improve overall game flow while still maintaining the fast-paced action the playlist is known for."

In addition, friendly fire has been removed from SWAT. No longer will you kill a teammate who jumps into your sights at the wrong time. It also means teammates won't be able to troll you as severely.

Also in the blog post, 343 shared some close-up images of some of the new Reqs coming to Halo 5 this week as part of the game's free Battle of Shadow and Light expansion. Click through the images in the gallery below to get a closer look at the new Shinobi and Tracer armor, as well as more weapon skins.

Gallery

The Battle of Shadow and Light expansion is set to arrive "within the next few days," 343 said. It also adds the Big Team Battle mode and four new maps inspired by those seen in previous Halo games.

Battle of Shadow and Light is now available.

343 has also announced updates to Halo 5's Warzone Assault mode. These are listed in the bullet points below, while a full breakdown is available on Halo Waypoint.

WARZONE ASSAULT UPDATES:

• Faster REQ leveling
• Decreased base capture time from 20 seconds to 16 seconds
• Reduced starting grenade count to 1

The Battle of Shadow and Light is the first of many free updates coming to Halo 5. In all, 343 plans to deliver more than 15 free multiplayer maps by next summer.

Halo 5 launched at the end of October for Xbox One and generated $400 million in its first week, representing a new record for the Halo series. For more, check out GameSpot's Halo 5 review.