343 says Halo Infinite is done with seasons, as it ‘shifts approach’

Halo Infinite’s Season 5, released last October, will be the game’s last, developer 343 has confirmed.

Instead, the studio is shifting its approach to an “Operations model” starting on January 30, in which it will offer 20 tiers of free unlockable rewards every four-to-six weeks.

Halo Infinite’s next free update, Operation Spirit of Fire, will add new customisation options, a new map, Forge additions and more on January 30.

The move away from larger, long-running seasons represents a significant change for Infinite. Speaking during a live stream on Friday, 343’s senior community manager, John Junyszek, emphasised that the company would continue to support Infinite in 2024.

However, he confirmed that the studio is also working on new projects, alongside the shooter.

“We’re making a shift in how we’re approaching infinite going forward,” he said. “For [Master Chief Collection] players this is probably going to sound very familiar. The gist of it is, we’re no longer referring to ‘seasons’ – we’re shifting away from seasons.”

He later added: “For us here at the studio, it’s going to be an exciting year for Halo. We have a dedicated team working on supporting Halo Infinite and continuing to deliver going forward, but also yes, we have additional teams that are accelerating towards the future working on brand new projects… there are a lot of things cooking here.”

Speaking last summer, Xbox’s then-studios boss Matt Booty suggested that 343 Industries would continue to work on the Halo series going forwards, but that other studios may get involved in their development.

When asked if this potentially meant Activision‘s Call of Duty team could work on the game, Booty didn’t rule it out but also stated that it wouldn’t be mandated by Xbox management.

“If something like that were to happen, it would have to come from the studios,” Booty explained. “It’s unlikely that we would come in and dictate that from the top.”

Further reading

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Phil Spencer has explained Halo’s absence from the Xbox Games Showcase

“I wouldn’t say Halo is of lesser importance, but we have over 20 studios now”

343 was hit with a significant number of layoffs last year as part of a wider swathe of Microsoft cuts, which saw around 10,000 of its 220,000-person workforce being laid off.

Texas-based studio Certain Affinity, which has collaborated on such series as Halo, Call of Duty, Left 4 Dead and Doom, also announced last year that it had taken on additional development duties on Halo Infinite.