Microsoft is committed to making Halo Infinite esports activities open to gamers around the world. To make this happen, they have announced the long-awaited title with cross-play and cross-input support.
This information is provided to us courtesy of a blog post from developer 343 Industries. In it, they revealed that “Halo Infinite esports will be cross-play for all online tournaments”. To elaborate on this, they highlighted the possibilities of linking players together for these tournaments. “Do you have a sturdy PC rig? Great, you are ready to compete! Do you have a latest generation console? All right, you are ready too! Just got your hands on a sweet new Xbox Series X? Well, you’re good! “
In addition to having a larger base of competitive players, the goal here is to make sure that players can compete in Halo Infinite without having to invest a small fortune in a new system or other major upgrades. As 343’s Tashi says on the blog, “We thought it was an ecosystem where players could choose. Where if they had one platform, they weren’t forced to take the other if they wanted to compete. Where Halo Infinite was suddenly a game they had a chance to play when it wasn’t in the past due to the platform they had already decided to invest in. “
This only applies to online tournaments, though. Physical LAN tournaments will require players to compete in an open pool on an Xbox Series X, and those players competing from billiards on the main stage must use a PC. Those who move up from the band to the pool will have to switch from the console to the PC.
In a way, this represents the transitive state that Microsoft and 343 are currently in. Tashi acknowledges that for esports gamers, the PC has certainly become “the standard”. But when it comes to hosting tournaments in person, “there are far fewer variables” with consoles than with fancy PC rigs. Therefore, having both console and PC at these tournaments makes them a little easier to organize and manage.
However, 343 is aware that expecting players to change the way they play mid-tournament is a bit “unorthodox”. To make this transition easier, players will have time to log into and get used to the “warm-up PCs”. And PC gamers have the option of using the traditional mouse and keyboard combo or Xbox controllers, meaning those who play exclusively on consoles will feel more comfortable playing on PC.
Time will tell how well players adapt to these changes. But one thing is certain: Halo Infinite esports events will bring fans of the franchise together like never before.
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