Halo fans blame Halo Infinite's graphical issues on the fact that the game's multiplayer will be free to play. Following a major leak earlier today, the official Halo Twitter account confirmed that Halo Infinite's multiplayer would be free to play and that "more details" would be shared later.
After showing a new Halo Infinite trailer at the Xbox Games Showcase earlier this month, one of the resounding complaints was that the game's graphics looked poor quality. Social media was flooded with criticism for developer 343 Industries, with some fans wondering why the developer had shown the game in this state. Some also asked how it was possible that Halo Infinite is an Xbox Series X game as the console will supposedly support higher-quality graphics and supports up to 120 frames per second.
In tweets, some fans are now blaming those graphics on Halo Infinite's free to play multiplayer, with one fan saying that they "now understand" why the game looks the way it does. Another suggested that the game's development budget all went on making the multiplayer free to play and putting microtransactions in it, and that this money was taken away from its graphics. It hasn't been confirmed what the game's microtransactions will look like, but 343 Industries has said that Halo Infinite will not feature any real-money loot boxes.
These criticisms come despite the fact that 343 Industries has said that the footage in the Halo Infinite gameplay trailer was from an older build of the game. The developer has also said that it will address the Halo Infinite graphics complaints and that the team is working to fix the issues quickly. While many were glad to hear that the developer is doing something, the free to play announcement seems to have exacerbated fan upset.
There are only two things that may be able to soothe fan concerns about Halo Infinite and how it looks, one being a beta and the other is just getting to see more gameplay. There are rumors that more Halo Infinite gameplay will be shown in August, though nothing has been officially confirmed.
A multiplayer beta is a little more difficult. COVID-19 has changed some things about the game's development and 343 Industries isn't sure if Halo Infinite will have a multiplayer beta. With fan complaints being so strong, the team may be forced to offer a beta just to get fans on board.
Halo Infinite is in development for PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.