It has been announced that Halo Infinite has amassed over 20 million players since launch, making it the biggest launch for a Halo title in the franchise’s history. The news was first revealed by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and then shared via the official Halo Twitter account which thanked players for the game’s success.
Nadella doesn’t share whether this number is just the game’s multiplayer statistics or whether the single-player campaign is included, but 20 million players in a little under two months is still a mightly impressive achievement.
It probably helps that Halo Infinite’s multiplayer is currently free-to-play, tempting even the most jaded Halo player to at least give the game a try. It also helps that the game’s single-player also launched on Xbox Game Pass on the day of release, boosting what were already likely going to be very impressive numbers.
With over 20 million Spartans joining us so far, we’re thrilled to announce that #HaloInfinite is the biggest launch in Halo franchise history!
Thank you, everyone, for joining us on the next step in this great journey. pic.twitter.com/d4EIsvWYVr
— Halo (@Halo) January 25, 2022
Halo Infinite has enjoyed immense success over the past couple of months, impressing everyone from Halo co-creator Marcus Lehto to Halloween director John Carpenter. Even Halo-esque titles like Splitgate have enjoyed a bump in players due to Microsoft’s premier first-person shooter, but this is the first time we’ve had an actual idea of the amount of players drawn in by Master Chief and friends.
Whether 343 Industries can keep up the momentum though is another question entirely. The game has had some criticism over the past couple of months, especially over the game’s progression system which some feel is a little too grindy. This problem was brought up once again in the replies to Halo’s celebratory tweet, with some pleading with the developer to add highly requested modes like Infection and Grifball.
Thankfully, 343 seems to be listening and has a number of changes lined up for Season 2, including recent pricing changes on the marketplace as well as the ability to earn credits by simply playing the game. 343 Industries has also committed to making cosmetics easier to obtain and has promised more fixes for Big Team Battle which last week’s hotfix didn’t really address.
