Skip to main content

Patch for Halo Infinite’s team battle fixes almost nothing

A hotfix rolled out for Halo Infinite on January 19 with the intention of fixing the game’s malfunctioning big team battle game mode. According to Halo community director Brian Jarrard, the patch accomplished almost nothing, with matchmaking issues still present in the classic multiplayer mode.

Well, damn… today's BTB hotfix does not appear to be the outcome we expected. There are minor improvements, but overall matchmaking issues are still occurring. Thanks to the folks who have been working hard and we're sorry this didn't quite get the job done. Work continues. https://t.co/lKiFibBDtT

Related Videos

— Brian Jarrard (@ske7ch) January 19, 2022

Halo Infinite‘s iteration of big team battle has been riddled with issues since the game’s launch in December. While it worked without a hitch initially, the game mode has been broken in recent weeks, with players unable to matchmake into a game. The game’s latest hotfix was meant to fix these issues, but ended up accomplishing the bare minimum.

In a post on Halo Waypoint, Jarrard wrote that the hotfix “did not fully resolve the BTB matchmaking problems,” and that 343 Industries “is continuing to investigate and while we believe there may be some minor improvements, matchmaking is still not working as expected.” As an apology for previous issues with big team battle, 343 Industries is giving every player who logs into the game between now and February 16 five XP boots and five challenge swaps.

For Halo Infinite, a full game mode being unplayable is one of many complaints players have. When the game initially launched, players pointed out that the progression system was painfully slow, and that challenges didn’t pay out nearly enough XP to level up in an exciting way. While those complaints have been addressed with a challenge overhaul, the game is still missing other core features.

Halo Infinite is still without two essential Halo game modes: forge and campaign co-op. Both features are planned to launch in 2022 along with the game’s multiplayer seasons. Campaign co-op is slated to arrive with the game’s second season while forge is meant to be added in with the game’s third season.

Editors' Recommendations

The best Xbox Series X games for 2023
Two Spartans side by side in Halo Infinite.

After an uneven console cycle with the Xbox One, Microsoft's latest consoles are aimed at getting the ship back on course. The Xbox Series X is a next-generation powerhouse that rivals gaming PCs, while the Xbox Series S is an affordable stopgap for those who are curious about trying new games.

There's no shortage of games to play on either console thanks to Xbox Game Pass, which gives players immediate access to a library of titles old and new. That built-in catalog is an extra value on top of all the new games available on the system that take advantage of its impressive technical specs. When it comes to first-party exclusives, the Series X is still growing. Halo Infinite and Forza Horizon 5 gave a good boost to the console's library following a somewhat sparse first year. More games are also on the way. Microsoft's Bethesda acquisition will bring exclusives like Starfield and Redfall, and the potential addition of all Activision Blizzard games would further bolster that list, but the console's real strength lies in third-party support.

Read more
Marvel Snap road map reveals new competitive mode, token shop rework
marvel snap friendly battle mode impressions key art

Second Dinner released a road map that revealed several significant updates coming to Marvel Snap over the next couple of months, including a new competitive mode called Conquest and revamps of the mobile card game's Token Shop and ranked modes.
The developer went into more detail about all of these features in Marvel Snap's in-game blog. Conquest was thoroughly explained, and we learned it's a competitive version of Friendly Battles' health-based fights. Conquest mode will be split into multiple leagues (Proving Grounds, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Vibranium, Infinite), and players must win three consecutive battles in one to move up to the next and get better rewards. Players will be rewarded with Conquest medals, which can then be used in a new cosmetic-driven Conquest Shop. This major new feature is expected to launch in June, but some updates are coming before then.
In Marvel Snap's next patch, Second Dinner will increase the number of Collector's Tokens players get from opening Collector's Caches and Collector's Reserve, and add the ability for players to claim a free Series 3 card once per season. This should shorten the amount of time it takes to get new cards, and set the stage for a Token Shop revamp in April. That rework will make the Marvel Snap Token Shop much more comprehensive by featuring new Series 5 cards in a weekly spotlight and giving Series 4 and 5 cards their own dedicated shop sections.
More modes and easier card acquisition have been some of the most-requested things from Marvel Snap players since launch, so it's great that Second Dinner will finally deliver on these fronts in the coming months. 

Looking at the long term, the road map also teases several features that are in the development in concept stages at Second Dinner. These updates include widescreen support on PC, Smart Decks, the ability to equip avatars and titles by deck, personalized shops, global matchmaking, social Guilds, card emotes and emojis, mythic variants, PC controller support, season audio, and a Test Deck mode that will let players try out certain deck builds in an unranked mode against AI.
Marvel Snap is available now for PC, iOS, and Android.

Read more
Skull and Bones: release date speculation, trailers, gameplay, and more
Two ships fire cannons at each other other a small island in Skull & Bones.

Ubisoft has a few notoriously troubled games in development that have left fans scratching their heads for years now. Aside from Beyond Good and Evil 2, the most curious game that has managed to avoid cancellation despite years of delays, restarts, and who knows what else behind the scenes is the pirate game Skull and Bones. It was first announced in 2017, and we've gotten almost nothing but bad news regarding this title in the years since. Despite having a playable build in 2018, for press only, the game has undergone major, if not complete overhauls.

Promised as a fully fleshed-out game built around the incredibly popular ship combat featured in Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag, Skull and Bones was poised to make a big splash following that game's success. Gamers loved all the pirate activities seen in that game, so expanding on that should've been an easy move. However, public statements about the game have almost completely vanished, leaving many gamers high and dry regarding the status of this pirate epic. We pulled out our compass, plotted our course, and dug up all the details on Skull and Bones that you need to know.
Release date

Read more