Confirmation came from Microsoft boss Satya Nadella in an investor-focused financial call last night. Unlike previous Halo games, Halo Infinite’s multiplayer is free-to-play, and its campaign is available as part of Game Pass as well as a premium, standalone purchase. (For more, check out our Halo Infinite campaign review, and our Halo Infinite multiplayer review.) Halo Infinite’s free-to-play multiplayer and its campaign’s availability in Game Pass no doubt boosted player numbers significantly. The challenge for Microsoft and developer 343 will be maintaining interest in the years to come. On Steam, Halo Infinite’s multiplayer launched big with a peak of 270,000 concurrent players, making it the most-played Xbox Game Studios title of all time. But that figure has dwindled, with a recent 24-hour peak of 31,950 concurrent players. Halo Infinite is still kicking about Xbox’s most-played games list - it’s currently in ninth place behind the likes of Fortnite, FIFA 22, Call of Duty: Warzone and Roblox. Meanwhile, Playground’s Forza Horizon 5, which is also available on Game Pass, has seen 18 million players since launch.
