Halo 5 Update Adds Big Team Battle, New Maps, Ninja-Themed Armor Next Week

Following an initial tease last week, 343 Industries has now provided full details on the free update coming to Halo 5: Guardians later this month. Arguably the biggest part of the update, called Battle of Shadow and Light, is the introduction of the Big Team Battle multiplayer mode and four new maps for it.

Big Team Battle is an 8v8 mode, and will become the largest non-Warzone mode in Halo 5. The new maps are Deadlock, Basin, Guillotine, and Recurve, all of which are inspired by maps seen in previous games.

Battle of Shadow Light also adds 48 new Reqs, including Shinobi armor, the Star Light Rifle, and the Tundra Mantris, which has extra armor compared to the regular version. There are also more vehicle skins and assassinations. Check out the image below to see all the new REQs.

Halo 5's Big Team Battle playlist arrives sometime next week, though 343 did not announce a specific date. Presumably, the new Reqs will also be available at the same time, though this was not confirmed.

Halo 5 will continue to expand in December with the release of the game's Forge tools. Overall, 343 will deliver 15 free maps by next summer.

Halo 5 launched on October 27 and generated a franchise-record $400 million. It was also the most-played game on Xbox Live during its launch week, a fact that Xbox boss is particularly proud of after Halo: The Master Chief Collection's issues a year ago.

For more on Halo 5, check out GameSpot's review and what other critics are saying.