343 Industries’ Halo Infinite multiplayer mode is out now on Xbox and PC (Steam and Game Pass). The Steam release doesn’t require an Xbox Live Gold or Game Pass Ultimate subscription to play, naturally. Where does that leave Xbox and Game Pass for PC users, though? Do you need Xbox Live to play online multiplayer in Halo Infinite on Xbox Series X, Series S, Xbox One, and PC? Here’s the lowdown on whether or not playing the new Halo game online requires a paid subscription.
Do you need Xbox Live to play Halo Infinite?
Halo Infinite multiplayer is entirely free to play across all available platforms. Xbox Series X, Series S, Xbox One, and PC players don’t need Xbox Live Gold or Game Pass Ultimate subscriptions to play the game online.
Since Halo Infinite is available on Steam for PC, requiring Xbox and Game Pass customers to pay an additional fee wouldn’t be a good look. It’s unlikely that this had much impact on the decision, however, as Microsoft’s vision for Halo Infinite multiplayer is to make it as widely accessible as possible. The Xbox manufacturer didn’t want to force an active Gold or XGPU sub to access online play in the first place.
While the competitive and casual online PvP components come totally free of charge, the Halo Infinite story campaign is a paid product. That said, Xbox Game Pass, Game Pass for PC, and Game Pass Ultimate members get the single-player mode at no additional cost. Steam users will need to pay for the narrative campaign as standard.
For more on Halo Infinite, check out how to fix frame drops, stutter, and lag. Additionally, check out how to grapple and whether or not the game has an aim assist option.
In other news, the Xbox backward compatibility program recently came to a close.
