Halo Infinite had the biggest launch in the franchise with over 20 million players to date

Over 20 million people have played Halo Infinite, making it the biggest Halo launch ever.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella touched on the game's success in the company's latest earnings call, and the official Halo Twitter account quickly followed up to affirm that Infinite has been "the biggest launch in Halo franchise history." 

Compared to previous Halo games, Halo Infinite had the massive advantage of a totally free-to-play multiplayer component which saw a surprise launch last November. The game also launched on Xbox Game Pass, which made it even more accessible.  

Of course, we can't forget that the game is just plain good. As we said in our Halo Infinite review, its dynamic open world, refined combat, and updated multiplayer delivered a whole new breed of Halo. And as our own Alyssa Mercante said, it's secretly one of the funniest games to come out in years.

Since its explosive launch, Halo Infinite has worked to balance the systems and expectations of free-to-play games and Halo games, which haven't always aligned cleanly. Developer 343 Industries recently announced that the next seasonal battle pass will enable players to earn the premium Credits which were previously locked to microtransactions, for example.  

In a similar vein, the studio updated the premier Fracture: Tenrai event to give out more free gear following an avalanche of player feedback arguing that cosmetics felt too expensive. The cost of Halo Infinite's paid items were also reduced across the board as part of a renewed plan from 343 to change "how we package and price items." 

Halo Infinite's Tenrai event is definitely better, but it still needs work.