Halo Infinite is getting rid of its controversial armor core system

What you need to know

• In a recent livestream, 343 Industries' Head of Creative Jerry Hook confirmed that the developers are looking to move away from Halo Infinite's armor core customization system.
• Partway through Season 2, the developers have plans to make all helmets, visor colors, and armor coatings usable on all of the game's armor cores. From there, work will start on making all of the game's other armor pieces compatible with all cores.
• Due to their unique and exaggerated design, the developers aren't planning to make these changes for Fracture armor cores like Yoroi for now.

In an official Halo Infinite Season 2 preview livestream, 343 Industries' Head of Design Jerry Hook has confirmed that the developers are looking at getting rid of Halo Infinite's controversial armor core customization system. "We realy lost the strength that Halo: Reach and Halo 3 brought to the franchise of allowing players to mix and match everything," Hook said of Halo Infinite's customization. "So ... we are looking at moving away completely from the core system."

Halo Infinite's armor cores act as base templates that players can equip armor coatings (colors and textures) and armor pieces on. 343 Industries' original goal with armor cores was to give players an extra level of customization separate from individual armor pieces. However, the armor core system has proven to be largely unpopular due to the fact that currently, most armor pieces, visor colors, and armor coatings can only be equipped on one specific core. This restriction significantly limits how much players can mix and match the customization items they've unlocked, and it's the primary reason many players argue that Halo Infinite's customization options are unacceptably shallow.

Moving forward, the developers are addressing these concerns by working to make customization items usable across all of Halo Infinite's armor cores. According to Hook, fans should be able to start using all of their helmets, visor colors, and armor coatings on all non-Fracture armor cores at some point during Halo Infinite Season 2. From there, the developers will then work on making all other types of armor pieces, such as shoulders and chestplates, usable on all armor cores. Notably, due to how uniquely shaped armor cores and armor pieces from Fracture events are, the developers aren't planning on implementing these changes for Fracture armor for now.

Overall, it's great to see that the developers are addressing the criticisms of the armor core system by working to get rid of its restrictions. It sounds like armor cores as a whole may be removed from the game eventually; if this happens, it will no doubt be interesting to see how the developers plan to rework Halo Infinite's customization systems moving forward.

Halo Infinite's multiplayer is free to play and is available on Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One consoles, and Windows PCs. It's a ton of fun despite some of its serious issues, and paired with the Halo Infinite campaign, it's one of the best Xbox games available right now.