Halo Infinite’s developers have started to reveal the highly requested features that will make it into the game’s PC version. While some of these were revealed yesterday by Matt Booty (Head of Xbox Game Studios), we now have more details regarding the game’s PC features, including new screenshots of the in-game settings thanks to a new Inside Infinite blog post.
Halo Infinite PC Features
While we knew that the game will include an adjustable field of view (FOV) and support multiple aspect ratios, we now have a first look at how the options will look in-game.
For starters, Halo Infinite will include support for ultrawide monitors and also include a FOV slider, which is also available on consoles. The in-game cutscenes are specifically built to work well regardless of what resolution/aspect ratio you run the game at.
“To make the game cross-platform we go through great pains to ensure you can have a competitive experience on any device, so things like your field of view (FOV) settings which are more standard on PC are also available on console.” – Mike Romero, Development Lead at 343 Industries
“Infinite has a style of in-game cutscene we call Narrative Moments and we want to make sure these work great without cropping to a specific aspect ratio, which means we need to make sure the action of the scene fits on the screen, things don’t despawn, stop animating or clip when they go out of the 16:9 field of view, etc.”
Halo Infinite PC Graphics Settings
A first look at the game’s settings menu shows us that it will include a dynamic resolution slider. This is a welcome addition, and more PC games need. Considering how the Xbox ecosystem also includes PCs, it’s not surprising to see certain console features make their way into Halo Infinite’s PC version. To a similar degree, we saw Gears 5 also ship with a dynamic resolution option on PC, with that game being a fantastic port regardless.
The developers also noted that the game will not ship with intrusive DRM, which is always good news. The game on PC will have an unlocked frame rate, so gamers with high refresh rate monitors can take advantage of their precious displays.
A quick look at the game’s graphics menu shows the standard range of settings, although there’s no mention of ray tracing anywhere. 343 Industries planned on adding ray tracing support to the game after its launch with the Xbox Series X, and it looks like they are still working on the base game right now. It’s still possible that the game will launch with RT support right at launch, and the screenshot does bear the Work-In-Progress mark at the bottom. Regardless, if 343I is reading this, please add an in-game benchmark tool!
Halo Infinite’s Free-to-Play Multiplayer Will Support Cross-play & Cross-progression
In addition to the extra features, Halo Infinite’s free-to-play multiplayer mode will also include cross-play and cross-progression with Xbox consoles. This means that you can pick up and play the multiplayer mode on a PC or console and have your entire progression carry over seamlessly over the cloud. It’s similar to what Xbox has been doing in the console space, bridging the gap between console generations with enhanced backwards compatibility as well as cross-progression, all thanks to the Smart Delivery program.
Speaking of cross-play, the game will also support Steam’s built-in party integration, as well as Xbox Live party chat for talking to players on console. The developers also mentioned Discord support, although we don’t know whether they mean native integration of the service into the game. You’ll also be able to host local multiplayer servers on PC, which is a nice addition considering just how important Halo has been to LAN parties of the past. For ranked matches, matchmaking will be restricted to input-type and not platform.
Halo Infinite will release later this year on Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, PC (via Microsoft Store and Steam), via retail as well as Xbox Game Pass.