The Halo Infinite Multiplayer Beta Is Over, But Don't Despair--Another Test Is Coming

After three full days of testing, the Halo Infinite multiplayer technical preview officially ended today, August 2. If you didn't get an invite for the first test, don't despair, as 343 Industries will hold at least one more multiplayer trial in the time ahead.

343 has not yet announced exactly when the next Halo Infinite multiplayer test will take place, but you will need to be a Halo Insider member for a chance to be selected. You can check out GameSpot's Halo Insider sign-up guide to find out everything you need to know.

The Halo Insider support site is also closing when the multiplayer preview ends. People on social media wondered why 343 doesn't keep the site open for a few days to give people more time to send in their feedback. Community manager John Junyszek said this is good feedback and that one idea for a future test is to let the community know earlier on when access to the site closes.

"We are open to reevaluating this for the future," Junyszek said.

The Halo Infinite multiplayer technical preview started July 29 and ran for three full days and a portion of today, August 2. The test featured matches against bots (of increasing difficulty). Additionally, human-to-human Slayer matches were activated for a few hours on August 1. New maps were released over time, too, and these featured weapons and equipment that weren't on the first map.

The preview featured a months-old version of Halo Infinite's multiplayer compared to where the "main" version stands with the development team. As such, players encountered a few bugs and other oddities that 343 plans to clean up before launch.

343 invited "hundreds of thousands" of Halo Insiders to the first Halo Infinite test, and the next preview could be even bigger. 343 said in a blog post, "If all goes well, we'll invite even more eligible Halo Insiders for the next flight."

"Our goal is to eventually get every eligible Halo Insider a chance to go hands-on and help us achieve our goals on the road to launch," the studio said.

Community director Brian Jarrard thanked fans for participating in the Halo Infinite test, and he outlined some of what comes next.

"So, what next? We have teams across the studio digging into game data, crash logs, bug tickets, and feedback threads to turn into actionable items as warranted. Good news is, with this build being a couple months behind, many common issues/themes are already addressed," Jarrard said. "A subset of participants will receive an official user research survey via email - please keep your eyes out for this! It's another way to help us get targeted input and your response is greatly appreciated. (not everyone will receive a survey given scale of this flight)."

"Once we have a full picture of all these various inputs and data points, we'll work with teams to determine outcomes and answers to key themes and will share a recap on Halo Waypoint (this will take time to complete)," the developer added. "Our hope is to land at least another larger scale flight, properly focused on PVP and other aspects of the MP experience. No timing yet, but reminder you can register at http://haloinsider.comright now for an opportunity to participate when the time comes! THANK YOU!"

Halo Infinite also has a large-scale, 12v12 Big Team Battle mode, but whether or not this will be part of the next test remains to be seen. Keep checking back with GameSpot for the latest.

After a year-long delay, Halo Infinite is slated to release officially this holiday for Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. The multiplayer is free-to-play--featuring battle passes and optional cosmetic microtransactions--while the campaign is included with Xbox Game Pass.

In other news, audio files related to battle royale have leaked for Halo Infinite. But it's too soon to say if this means Halo Infinite will have a battle royale mode.