Xbox celebrates 20 years by releasing Halo Infinite Multiplayer Beta for free on Xbox and PC

During today’s Xbox 20th Anniversary live stream, the team at Microsoft reminisced about some of the things that have made the console so special over the past 20 years. Undeniably, the power of the console’s existence can be largely attributed to legend Halo a series, something not lost on Microsoft today. To celebrate this important milestone, the team at 343 Industries launched the multiplayer section of Halo Infinite today, with the campaign still running on December 8th.

The announcement leaked over the weekend, with speculation that the Xbox team will do something big to celebrate their console’s 20th anniversary. Today, at the end of the stream, it was made official. Players can participate in the Multiplayer Beta of Halo Infinite on Xbox or PC for free today. The beta is available on the Xbox line of consoles, as well as the Microsoft Windows 10 store and on Steam.

Through Posts on Xbox Wire:

“As a thank you to the Xbox community for 20 years of support, 343 Industries has released the game for free Halo Infinite Multiplayer Beta and Season 1 three weeks early, available now for all players on Xbox Series X | S, Xbox One and Windows PC. It will also be available through Xbox Cloud Gaming starting later today. Players can enjoy Season 1 content including all maps, core modes, Academy and Battle Pass features, and all of their progress will be translated into full Halo Infinite premieres on December 8.”

Players can join today and progress will continue when Halo Infinite Full launch on December 8, 2021. While this is a beta, as the 343 Industries team explains, today marks the first day of Season 1 of the free multiplayer mode of the game. Halo Infinite. This also gives the team the opportunity to test the systems at a much larger scale before fully launching them.

“Why is this release a beta? Our previous multiplayer technical preview has come a long way in testing our services and infrastructure. But as we did prepare for a significant increase in the number of players participating Halo Infinite On launch day, December 8, we wanted to make sure all of our systems were up and running. While you may experience some bumps and bugs during this beta period, it marks the official start of the game. Halo Infinite Season 1, with all the maps and modes of the day enabled as well as the full Season 1 Battle Pass. This means all the Battle Pass and custom items you earn or purchase during the period. the trial will stay with you after December 8th.”

Season 1, Heroes of Reach, will also be extended from now until May 2022, marking a shift from 343I’s goal of a new season every three months. As for why Season 1 is being extended, the team says it’s to ensure the quality of Season 2 before its release in a way that’s both “sane and sustainable” for the development team.

You can check the full details about Halo Waypoint’s blog postor jump right into beta today on Xbox consoles, PC, and then Xbox Cloud Gaming today.