Halo Infinite Season 1 update arrives with fixes for anti-cheat, campaign, and more

Halo Infinite Multiplayer
Halo Infinite Multiplayer (Image credit: Xbox Game Studios)

What you need to know

  • Halo Infinite is securing a new mid-Season 1 patch update with numerous fixes targeting various aspects of the game.
  • The patch update is now available across Xbox and PC platforms, and should be approximately 1.3GB in size.
  • Highlights of the update include improvements to first-person animations, audio, Quick Resume, the campaign, and more.

Halo Infinite is undoubtedly the most successful Halo game yet, and is ambitious in its scope in vision. However, the game has been slow to improve so far, with 343 Industries focusing on collecting feedback and implementing improvements where possible during the game's extended Season 1 duration.

On Thursday, 343i began rolling out the mid-Season 1 patch update, which includes a hefty number of fixes and improvements across all of Halo Infinite. There's plenty to look forward to in this patch update, including, but not limited to:

  • Improvements to first-person animations
  • Improvements to audio and audio mixing
  • Improvements to anti-cheat solutions
  • Improvements to Quick Resume on Xbox Series X|S
  • Improvements to multiplayer telemetry collection

There are no new features or content included in this update, and we likely won't see any significant additions until the arrival of Season 2 in a few months. Still, this Halo Infinite patch still includes a plethora of long-awaited tweaks to enhance the experience. The update also includes the beginning of 343i's continued efforts to improve desync and latency issues in Halo Infinite.

Halo Infinite isn't perfect, but it still firmly secures a spot on our list of best Xbox games thanks to its incredible multiplayer gameplay and one of the best campaigns in a Halo game yet.

Available now and approximately 1.3GB in size, the full changelog for Halo Infinite's mid-Season 1 patch update includes:

Features & bug fixes

Global

  • First-person animations, including reloading and clambering, now appear smoother at all framerates
  • The following sound effects are louder in the audio mix for both multiplayer and campaign:
    • Enemies throwing grenades
    • The Needler's supercombine
    • Player Ravager completing its charge
  • Multiple improvements to Quick Resume on Xbox Series X|S consoles, including increased reliability of reconnecting to Halo Infinite's multiplayer and customization services
    • Players who have purchased Halo Infinite's campaign digitally should also see less prompts to purchase Campaign after using Quick Resume
  • Players who did not receive an Achievement after completing its requirements should see it unlock after updating and launching Halo Infinite
  • Improvements to Dolby Vision High Dynamic Range (HDR) output on Xbox Series X|S consoles
  • Color accuracy improvements when playing on a PC with an AMD GPU and FreeSync capable monitor(s)
    • If you want to play with HDR enabled, ensure it is enabled HDR in Windows and the AMD Radeon Software / Settings
  • Stability improvements for Xbox One consoles
  • Launching Halo Infinite with an out-of-date PC graphics driver will now direct players to download Halo Support's recommended drivers
  • PCs with Intel Integrated Graphics hardware may experience less graphical corruptions
    • Intel Integrated Graphics are below Halo Infinite's minimum system specifications. Gameplay on this hardware may be functional but is likely not performant

Multiplayer

  • Improved cheat detection and other anti-cheat improvements
  • Sound effects for receiving damage as well as enemy footsteps and gunfire are now louder in multiplayer's audio mix
  • The Combat Sensor's range has increased from 18 meters to 24 meters in Big Team Battle (BTB)
  • Added new telemetry to help our developers gather more information on shot registration issues
  • After receiving a matchmaking ban, players can select the Play button in any matchmaking playlist to see when their ban will end. This expiration time will be in the MM/DD/YY format and PT time
  • The Optimal Polish Initiated armor coating is now available for all players who have submitted a valid code on Halo Waypoint
  • Players standing on destroyed vehicles will no longer experience stuttering or desyncs
  • Matchmaking playlists now reflect accurate Estimated Wait times
  • The Post-Game Carnage Report (PGCR) will now reflect the correct winning team after online matches

Campaign

  • Improvements to Campaign's save system to prevent data loss
  • Interactive items, such as uncollected audio logs and ammo crates, now have their intended sound and visual effects after completing the Campaign's final mission
  • The description of Forerunner Artifacts now appears correctly when playing in a language other than English

Known issues

  • Local Area Network (LAN) servers cannot be started from the in-game menus on Steam
    • LAN servers can be started on Steam by launching Halo Infinite with the following launch options: -server -console -lan
  • The Bot Bootcamp matchmaking playlist has an inaccurate Estimated Wait time. Actual wait times may vary but should be much shorter than the listed Estimated Wait
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Zachary Boddy
Staff Writer

Zachary Boddy (They / Them) is a Staff Writer for Windows Central, primarily focused on covering the latest news in tech and gaming, the best Xbox and PC games, and the most interesting Windows and Xbox hardware. They have been gaming and writing for most of their life starting with the original Xbox, and started out as a freelancer for Windows Central and its sister sites in 2019. Now a full-fledged Staff Writer, Zachary has expanded from only writing about all things Minecraft to covering practically everything on which Windows Central is an expert, especially when it comes to Microsoft. You can find Zachary on Twitter @BoddyZachary.