343 head designer confirms Halo Infinite multiplayer progression fix on the way

After community outcry over slow progression, 343 Industries Head of Design Jerry Hook has confirmed that the Halo Infinite team is focusing on improving the multiplayer progression system. When talking about non-Halo matters on Twitter, the community still mentioned Infinite’s progression issues and he confirmed in a reply that the team is “feeling everyone’s pain on progression.”

This development focus starts in early December with top priority from the development team, according to Hook.

Yes I am still playing Halo and feeling everyone’s pain on progression. We are back at it next week and this will be top of my list with the team.

— jerry hook (@hookscourt) November 28, 2021

Multiplayer progression now the top focus

When Halo Infinite’s multiplayer beta opened to the world on Nov. 15, 2021, the hype surrounding the game was only brought down by its battle pass and progression system. While not the first free multiplayer game to introduce a battle pass, the time it took to progress and level up within a season took too long without buying the pass according to the community. Many of the daily or weekly challenges required a lot of in-game time to acquire and were more difficult for new players. One day after the game’s release, Infinite Creative Director Joseph Staten commented on its reception in a tweet.

“We’re looking very closely at Battle Pass progression in the Halo Infinite beta. Please keep the feedback coming. We can’t do our jobs without it.” Staten said on Twitter.

We're looking very closely at Battle Pass progression in the #HaloInfinite beta. Please keep the feedback coming. We can't do our jobs without it.❤️ https://t.co/tDPpWpBwwq

— Joseph Staten (@joestaten) November 16, 2021

Three days after hearing these issues from the community, the team at 343 Industries improved the progression system slightly. This includes guaranteed XP for playing games, along with easier daily and weekly challenges. As a way of apologizing from the development team, anyone who logs in from Nov. 23-30 gets a free helmet item.

Even with those changes, the progression system is still slow in comparison to other free-to-play titles with similar systems. The grind of the game doesn’t reward players with enough for how much time they put in. The full game along with the single-player story mode releases on Dec. 8, 2021.