New Halo Infinite battle royale mode launches with 3 maps, fresh mechanics, and more on Xbox and PC

What you need to know

• The Forge Falcons, a group of talented community members known for their impressive Forge creations, has just released a new Halo Infinite battle royale mode.
• Simply dubbed "Halo Battle Royale," the gametype features three distinct maps, a dynamic shrinking zone, randomized loot rarities and spawn locations, a bespoke start-of-match spawning system, and more.
• The mode is essentially a relaunch of Inheritor, a battle royale experience the team originally created in 2023. This new version of it features several extensively reworked mechanics and additional play spaces.
• The Forge Falcons is also responsible for creating the Survive the Undead CoD: Zombies-style mode that's currently in official Halo Infinite matchmaking, as well as a Helldivers 2 experience called Helljumpers that's slated to release on June 28.

The status and even the existence of Certain Affinity's long-rumored "Project Tatanka" battle royale mode for Halo Infinite is unclear at this point, with rumors of its cancellation swirling earlier this year. Regardless of whether Tatanka is on the way or not, though, players hoping for a PvP battle royale experience in 343 Industries' free-to-play Xbox and PC shooter don't have to wait any longer to jump into one.

That's thanks to the efforts of The Forge Falcons, an incredibly talented team of community members using Halo Infinite's Forge level editor to build custom gameplay experiences for players. Best known for creating the Survive the Undead CoD: Zombies mode that got added to Halo Infinite matchmaking earlier this month, The Forge Falcons also made a Halo Infinite battle royale called Inheritor that just got a big relaunch. Now, it's simply called "Halo Battle Royale" (bookmark it here), and it's got a suite of impactful changes and additions for players to check out.

Matches begin aboard a Pelican dropship that everyone drops out of, with players given the option to glide for up to 10 seconds to where they want to land or to activate a custom piece of equipment that drops them to the ground instantly. From there, it's a fight to survive against up to 23 other players and AI-controlled enemies and emerge victorious as the last Spartan standing, with everyone in the lobby getting a single respawn (for a total of two lives). Right now, there's only a "solos" free-for-all (FFA) version of the mode available, but The Forge Falcons is working to add squad-based variants and team-based 12v12, 8v8v8, and 6v6v6v6 options, too.

The mode's shrinking playable space — a feature found in every battle royale that facilitates engagements between players — is fully dynamic, with seven randomized phases that ensure the pace of the match varies from game to game. Additionally, the loot boxes around the maps that give players weapons and pickups when opened have random spawn locations and custom loot pools based on their rarity (from most to least common: green, blue, purple, yellow), adding more of the unpredictability and replayability that fans of the genre enjoy. There are even special "loot cave" caches you might stumble across as you move around the map; these have red "Mythic" loot boxes that contain some of the best items in the mode's sandbox.

Currently, Halo Battle Royale has three custom-made maps: Forerunner, a stage set around ancient ruins and UNSC bases with "a wide range of gameplay" engagements; Reclaimer, an abandoned city with massive skyscrapers that promotes a large amount of vertical movement; and Inheritor, a map at a UNSC mining facility with lots of trees, underground tunnels, and points of interest. Be careful if you go down into the mines on that last one — The Forge Falcons say "the Flood don't come too kindly to" them, so you might find some unsettling threats down there.

Note that while you can (and should) bookmark the mode and its maps so you can host play sessions with friends, you can also play Halo Battle Royale by looking for groups playing it with Halo Infinite's built-in Custom Games Browser. This is generally the best way to jump into fan-made Forge experiences like this one, and will make finding games a breeze.

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To be honest, I've never been a huge fan of battle royale — I got my fill of it back during the 2017 PUBG era — so I probably won't be playing this mode too much. Still, I know there are a ton of folks who've wanted a quality battle royale experience in Halo Infinite for a long time, and I'm glad there's finally one on the table. Sure, it's not made by 343 Industries, but given that The Forge Falcons just got a mode into official matchmaking, it's safe to say that the quality of the team's work speaks for itself.

What I will be playing a ton of, though, is the Helldivers 2 mode the team is making for Halo Infinite. The Forge Falcons plan to release it on June 28, and while I'll be deep in Elden Ring's Shadow of the Erdtree expansion at that time, I'm definitely going to jump into the ambitious co-op experience in July. With custom-built stratagem call-ins, a wide variety of main and side objectives, escalating difficulty, and longform upgrades, it's aiming to bring the thrill and intensity of Arrowhead's PvE shooter to Xbox and PC fans (Helldivers 2, while available on PC, is a PS5 console exclusive).

Halo Infinite multiplayer is free-to-play (its campaign costs $59.99, but is also on Xbox Game Pass), and it's one of the best Xbox games and best PC games for folks who enjoy science fiction and arena shooters. While it's certainly gone through some steep peaks and deep valleys over time, the fact you can play awesome Forge experiences like this one in it makes it worth the download.