Halo Infinite free-to-play multiplayer confirmed by Microsoft

Update: Halo Infinite multiplayer will officially be free-to-play. Microsoft confirmed the new detail after a related leak started picking up traction online, electing to share the news on Halo's official Twitter account.

Microsoft also said Halo Infinite multiplayer will run at 120FPS on Xbox Series X, and that it will have more details to share later. For the time being, you can read more of the leaked information - including the existence of a battle pass component - in the original story below.

Original article follows

Halo Infinite could be getting free-to-play multiplayer according to a now-removed post on retailer Smyths Toys. 

A short sentence on the UK game retailer's site said: "The legendary Halo series returns with the most expansive Master Chief campaign yet and a groundbreaking free-to-play multiplayer experience. Enjoy up to 120 FPS and greatly reduced load times creating seamless gameplay with Xbox Series X." 

While this info has since been deleted on Smyth Toys page, it has also been picked by Twitter account Klobrille, who accurately leaked that Halo Infinite would have a grappling hook according to VG24/7. Kolbrille not only claimed that the multiplayer would be free-to-play, but it would also boast 120 frames per second in multiplayer, as well as supporting a Battle Pass system. 

It's worth noting that Klobrille's claim that 120 frames per second is for multiplayer as 343 Studios wrote in a recent blog post that 4K 60FPS is their aim for the campaign: "To clarify, up to 4k 60fps is our target for our expansive campaign experience on Xbox Series X. As PC players expect, there will be plenty of settings that you can tweak to create the experience you want and we’ll have even more details on that in the coming months." It's not that uncommon for a single player mode to have a different FPS rate to a multiplayer mode, so there's every chance that the 120 number could be hit for Arena. 

Still, this would be a huge shift for Microsoft, for their flagship series to have a free-to-play multiplayer mode. Coupled with Xbox Live Gold 12 month subscriptions recently being discontinued and we could be looking at a very different type of online services for the Xbox Series X. 

Can't wait for Microsoft's next-gen console? Here are the most exciting upcoming Xbox Series X games.