Halo Infinite Will Have Microtransactions But No Loot Boxes

343 Industries has revealed that Halo Infinite will be delayed to Fall 2021. The news comes from a blog post, which also goes into how Halo Infinite and its free-to-play multiplayer will handle microtransactions.

"Yes, being free-to-play does mean that there will be some premium cosmetics, but players will still obtain tons of customization content through things like playing campaign, challenges, skill, special events, legacy rewards--such as the Halo 5 SR 152 reward--the progress system, and more," Halo Infinite lead progression designer Christopher Blohm said.

Blohm added that the team wants players to feel like they're being properly rewarded for time spent in the game. So players who don't spend any additional cash won't be penalized, they'll still be able to unlock "items across multitude of different customization types." Microtransactions will only be tied to premium cosmetics, and it's a one-and-done purchase. "No loot boxes," Blohm clarifies. "No randomness or items that influence the sandbox and gameplay."

If you're in love with the Spartan you've already built in Halo: The Master Chief Collection, 343 Industries wants you to be able to recreate them in Halo Infinite. Much like MCC, every armor cosmetic is planned to release in Infinite eventually.

"We want everyone to build their dream Spartan," Halo Infinite design director Ryan Paradis said. "We are always looking for more ways to customize in-game personas and give the players options. My team knows that our long-term players have favorites that they love and may have for two decades. We want to make sure that Halo Infinite players will be able to get their old favorites, as well as find new favorites at launch and as we expand over the months post-launch."

Halo Infinite is scheduled to launch for Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.