Halo Infinite Update Adds New Arena Map, Improves Death Cam

A new update is live for 343 Industries’ Halo Infinite on Xbox and PC, adding several improvements and bug fixes. A new Arena map is available in Dredge, based on Countdown from Halo: Reach. Created in Forge, it features Weapon Racks and Equipment Pads and is available in playlists (including the new Dredge 24/7) and Custom Games.

The playlist will rotate out on August 22nd, so play it now before it’s gone. The death cam has also been improved, with faster swapping between players and rotating when spectating someone else. An option is also available to enable or disable Personal AI dialogue, so you can play a match without hearing their callouts.

Forge Mode has received new features like the Reactive Water Plane, which responds dynamically to projectiles and player collision, and collapsible menus for the Object and Node Browser, Tool Settings, Map and Graph Options, and more. Check out some of the other improvements below and full patch notes here.

Halo Infinite Update – August 9, 2023

Global

• Frametime on 4K 120hz displays has been improved when playing Halo Infinite on an Xbox Series X|S console with Dolby Vision enabled.
• Players will now reconnect to online services more consistently after using Quick Resume.
• The High-Res Texture Pack is no longer automatically downloaded when installing Halo Infinite from the Microsoft Store app or the Xbox app for PC.
• Resolved two common crashes that occurred in the main menus.

Campaign

• Completing the mission Outpost Tremonius on a higher difficulty via Mission Replay will now consistently result in the TacMap menu reflecting the new highest difficulty completed.
• Destroying a Ghost that is hanging from the bottom of a Phantom is now less likely to result in a crash.

Multiplayer

Gameplay

• Sprinting then sliding down a slope no longer results in players coming to an abrupt stop.
• Weapon Charms are now less likely to detach from a weapon after players remain idle in gameplay.
• When entering a Big Team Battle match, Fireteam members will now appear together during the match’s opening camera sequence and see one another’s Pings.
• For Fireteams with more than 4 players, Fireteam members will be split across multiple in-game squads. Pings are only visible to players in your squad.
• Pelicans vehicle drop-offs in Big Team Battle have been improved to deliver the same vehicle for both teams in the same wave.
• Due to the Pelicans’ flight path on each map, there may be some slight differences in the timing of vehicle drop offs between the two teams.
• Players can no longer access unintended areas outside of the playable space on the map Chasm.
• The VK78 Commando Rifle’s sight no longer appears opaque when using some of the new Weapon Coatings introduced in Season 4.
• Spike Grenades thrown into water will now consistently deal their intended amount of damage.
• During Infection matches, the holograms of incoming Power Equipment can no longer be picked up and activated as normal Power Equipment.
• Holding down the Pick Up button while swapping to the next Escalation Slayer loadout will no longer result in players keeping the previous loadout’s Equipment.
• The Extermination medal can now be earned when playing any Arena game mode in Halo Infinite.
• This medal can be earned by killing all four members of the opposing team in rapid succession, before the first player to be killed has respawned.
• The “Straight to the Bank” Achievement can now be earned in a Custom Game session.
• This Achievement can be earned by depositing 5 Power Seeds in a single Stockpile match.
• Bots will now consistently navigate through 343 Industries maps made in Forge.
• When playing Last Spartan Standing on a Big Team Battle map, the Danger Zone now consistently inflicts damage to players.
• As announced via @HaloSupport on Twitter on August 8, 2023, the following map and playlist changes were made via a backend update:

Map improvements:

• Weapon spawns on Catalyst have been adjusted and, as a result, it has been re-added to the Ranked Arena matchmaking playlist.
• Plasma Grenades will no longer become stuck in the Gravity Lift on Solitude.
• Weapons dropped in the Elevator area on the map Empyrean can now be picked up consistently.

Playlist improvements:

• Playlist descriptions and names have been adjusted to better reflect their included maps and modes.
• The order of the playlists on the Multiplayer menu has also been adjusted to provide a more consistent layout week-to-week.
• Squad Battle is now a staple playlist, meaning it will not be removed from matchmaking.
• There are now five rotational playlists available, one for each of the following categories: Big Team Battle, Arena, Ranked, Doubles, and Free-For-All.

Menus

• The “Battle Tested” achievement now consistently unlocks after reaching the maximum level on any Battle Pass.
• If you completed a Battle Pass prior to this update and did not receive this Achievement, navigate to the main menu then select the Battle Pass widget in the top right corner of the menu. The
• Achievement should unlock shortly after opening this Battle Pass menu or while navigating its sub-menus. If you have completed a Battle Pass and are not receiving this Achievement after the update, submit a ticket so our team can investigate.
• The Career Rank Rewards screen will no longer overlap and block other menus if another menu is opened while it is active.
• The button prompts listed at the bottom of the Post-Game Carnage Report menu will now appear more consistently.
• Selecting the Content Browser’s “Browse All” option no longer lists the “Popular” results when initially opened.

Custom Games

• The default value for the Points Per Slay setting is now consistently set to 1 when modifying Custom Game settings.

Customization

• The Superintendent’s eyes are now consistently visible in the Body & AI customization menu.
• Weapon Coatings now consistently apply the correct color to the M392 Bandit when the Crimson Dawn Weapon Model is equipped.
• The Grim Fortress Weapon Coating now consistently applies its intended colors.

Theater & Observer Mode

• Improved stability when fast-forwarding and switching perspectives simultaneously in a Theater film.
• Assigning the Change Outlines function to a new controller button now consistently results in the new binding working as expected.
• Observer Mode’s Starting Outlines setting now consistently takes effect after being toggled from the Settings menu.
• When switching between players on either team as an Observer, the overall scores for each team are now less likely to become swapped on the Observer Scoreboard.
• The Observer Scoreboard now only shows columns that are used by the current game mode.