Halo Infinite Swaps Seasons For Shorter ‘Operations’ As Work Begins On Next Halo Game

343 Industries is prepping a big update for Halo Infinite at the end of the month which will bring a new arena map, a new operation, and the long-requested ability to attach shoulder pieces to any armor. Players will also receive a free Mark IV Spartan core when the update lands on January 30.

The studio offered a preview of the update’s contents in a developer livestream yesterday along with the announcement that Season 5 will be the multiplayer shooter’s final season. The team says that they’ll be moving away from traditional seasons at the end of Season 5 in favor of shorter “Operations” that will feature a 20-tier battle pass and will run for only four to six weeks.

The news comes as 343 shuffles its teams around to work on future projects, including the next Halo game. That doesn’t mean that Halo Infinite is dead, although it definitely looks like it will no longer be their priority going forward.

“We have a dedicated team working on supporting Halo Infinite and continuing to deliver coming forward, but also, we have additional teams now that are accelerating towards the future working on brand new projects,” said community director Brian Jarrard.

Compared to previous Halo titles, Halo Infinite’s development journey has been a rather rocky one. The game launched in December 2021 with a barebones multiplayer system, no split-screen co-op, and minus a Forge system.

While 343 has managed to salvage the game with constant updates over the past two years, a fresh start might just be what the studio needs to get back into the community’s good graces. It also looks like they’ve taken a page from other live service developers who’ve decided to slow down their update cadences to a more relaxed pace, favoring quality over quantity. Hopefully, that works in their favor as they begin work on the next game in the Halo franchise.