Microtransactions are nothing new in gaming and have become an expected part of free-to-play games, andHalo Infinite’s multiplayer is no exception. These are often cosmetics items such as skins to change the appearance of a player’s character.Halo Infinitefeatures a Battle Pass, much like other competitive multiplayer games, as well as a rotating shop that offers other cosmetics that can’t be found in the Battle Pass.
While cosmetics are optional and don’t impact the outcome of a game, many players are beginning to become annoyed with some of the monetization practices already seen inHalo Infinite, in addition to the XP progression problems that makeleveling up the Battle Pass a really tedious task.
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Recently in the shop, it was noticed by a player on Reddit that 343 Industries was charging 700 credits for a helmet and a red color for it - this equates to $7. With the helmet being added to the shop it also means that the set has two other cores to go with it, a body and limbs option, which would total $21 to purchase all three and the specific red color. For contrastthe full Battle Passcosts approximately $10 and includes over 100 cosmetics.
This has baffled and angered someHalo Infiniteplayers, with some in the Reddit threadcriticizing this practice by 343 Industries, also pointing out how the closest amount of credits that can be purchased are 500 or 1,000. This means that players will need to purchase more than they need, which is a common monetization technique in games as it means players have leftover credits which encourage them to purchase more to acquire another item in the shop.
It is interesting to see how microtransactions and monetization practices have progressed over the past decade or so, with one of the earlier examples of microtransactions being thehorse armor inThe Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivionwhich garnered a lot of criticism by players. Now it has become an expected part of online gaming and many players have accepted whatever practices a company puts in place.
Since theHalo Infinitemultiplayer beta was unexpectedly released on November 15th it has become one of the most popular online games, with it becomingthe most popular free game on Xboxbeating outCall of Duty: WarzoneandFortnite.
343 Industries has announced that it will be tweaking theBattle Pass progression to make it easier for players, but there doesn’t seem to be any indication that the company will be looking to tweak the pricing of its shop items.
Halo Infinitemultiplayer is available now on PC via Steam and Windows Store, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S. TheHalo Infinitecampaign will launch on the same platforms on December 8th, with it also being available on Xbox Game Pass for both console and PC.
