As earlier reports predicted, Halo Infinite multiplayer dropped yesterday during the Xbox 20th anniversary stream, three weeks ahead of its scheduled launch. Fans were eager to celebrate twenty glorious years of the iconic series, and the numbers don’t lie: the title reached over 270,000 concurrent players on Steam yesterday. Dropping the title on PC was clearly the right course of action, though numbers were assuredly impressive across Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S–though the exact numbers have bet to be unveiled. The multiplayer portion of the game is free-to-play for anyone, which was another tick in the pro-marketing box. According to Daniel Ahmad on Twitter, after less than one day, Halo Infinite currently sits as the most successful Xbox Game Studios title on Steam.
Looking at the numbers, Infinite saw the fourth largest peak number of concurrent players on November 15, sitting just behind long-running Steam classics Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Dota 2, and PUBG Battlegrounds. The 270,000 figure also means that the title peaked higher than Team Fortress 2, Apex Legends, Grand Theft Auto V, and the most recent juggernaut Forza Horizon 5. The lack of a price tag, PC inclusion, and nostalgia certainly played big parts in the multiplayer’s success, but we’re hoping it’s more than that. Keep in mind: this is only a beta version of the multiplayer, but players won’t be lacking content. The launch includes all content and every map, plus the entire Season One Battle Pass. Any progress made on the latter will carry on to the game’s official release.
343 has mentioned that Halo Infinite is meant to last ten years, and fans have speculated that the game may include multiple campaigns. Despite the game being less than a month away, there’s plenty of details that the developers have kept skillfully hidden. Only time will tell, but one thing is guaranteed: Infinite will sell.
Halo Infinite will officially launch on December 8, 2021. The game will be available on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S and will also be playable on Xbox Game Pass on launch day.