Infinite launched with a free-to-play multiplayer experience that should have encouraged many to pick up the game for the first time. And it did, for a while: over 256,000 concurrent players hopped on to experience Halo Infinite for the first time in November 2021 on Steam. But, in less than four months, most of the playerbase disappeared.
Many Halo fans feel that 343 Industries’ failure to maintain the momentum of the launch period is what led to the decline of the game over time. We were stuck with Season 1 for half a year, and the Lone Wolves update did not add enough to keep players engaged when it finally dropped. With just two new maps and a few game modes doing little to grow the game over the vital first few months, it felt like there just wasn’t enough content. The lack of Forge Mode, Hardcore Mode, and Combat Record at launch was also a disappointment.