The video game community celebrated today as 343 Industries at long confirmed that the Halo Infinite free-to-play multiplayer was now available to play on the 20th Anniversary of the original Xbox as well as the 20th Anniversary of the original Halo. Obviously, gamers flocked to the title to engage in some classic Slayer, Capture the Flag, and other mode types the series is known for. This includes PC players too, as the free-to-play aspect is on Steam as well, which saw record broken in possibly a record time. SteamDB along with video game statistician Daniel Ahmad is reporting that Halo Infinite’s multiplayer had nearly 200 thousand players on the platform within 3 hours of launching, making it the most successful Xbox Games Studio title on Steam in history.
As it states in the tweet above, the insane surge of players has propelled the title to an unbelievable feat in just the first day of being online. The other two mentioned Xbox Game Studio titles, Halo: The Master Chief Collection and Forza Horizon 5 are both titles that you need to pay for on Steam, as the multiplayer for Infinite is completely free. Keep in mind that these numbers only apply to the Steam database and not through Windows and Xbox Live. This is because all three are available on those platforms for free if you have the Xbox Game Pass subscription service.
This also shows the power of Steam in the PC community, as it is still the largest digital PC game retailer on the market, and making Halo Infinite’s multiplayer free on its platform has only exponentially increased the overall player base. This has also moved the title to third on the Steam charts behind Counter-Strike Global Offensive and Dota 2, two Valve powerhouses that continuously hold high numbers of players each and every day. Even though the full game has yet to release, this is an amazing start for 343 Industries, and when it does launch, we expect those numbers to go up even higher.
Halo Infinite Multiplayer is available now for free for Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC through Windows and Steam. The full game will launch on December 8.