Halo Infinite's finally getting the mode fans have been waiting for

Infected spartans look menacing — (Image credit: Xbox Game Studios)

Halo Infinite is finally getting an Infection multiplayer mode this summer, 18 months after the shooter’s launch.

The Infection multiplayer mode has made an appearance in every mainline game since Halo 3, but it was mysteriously missing from Halo Infinite along with many other fan-favourite features. Essentially Halo’s take on a zombies mode, Infection pits a team of spartan survivors against a team of infected zombies whose job it is to spread the infection. The hunt goes on until the timer runs out and Halo’s eccentric suite of weapons made the mode a series mainstay. Infection is now joining the party on June 20th alongside season four.

Rather than theming Infection on a nasty plague, Halo Infinite has set up Infection as a hostile artificial intelligence takeover. In the game’s fiction, enemy AI Iratus has taken over a couple of chunky spartans and manipulated their armour, turning friend against friend. That gives the mode a fresh coat of paint with a particularly nasty-looking robot face attached to each infected soldier.

Infection took a while to drop into Halo Infinite, but it wasn’t the only feature absent at the game’s launch. Split-screen co-op was another long-time Halo feature that was at first delayed and then cancelled altogether due to technical issues. Some of those problems and delays could be attributed to problems at developer 343 Industries which recently suffered a blast of layoffs at the studio and the cancellation of campaign DLC.

Kaan freelances for various websites including Rock Paper Shotgun, Eurogamer, and this one, Gamesradar. He particularly enjoys writing about spooky indies, throwback RPGs, and anything that's vaguely silly. Also has an English Literature and Film Studies degree that he'll soon forget.