The latest Inside Infinite blog post from 343 Industries concerning its progress on Halo Infinite has revealed a lot about where the game stands. One of Inside Infinite's key takeaways is that an upcoming version of the game, dubbed a "technical preview" by 343, will focus on Arena gameplay vs. bots. Three maps will be available to fights bots in and the format will be 4 players vs. 4 bots. Although there is no start date for Halo Infinite's technical preview, 343 has hinted that it could kick off as soon as this weekend.

Gamers who will be able to experience the technical preview include many who have already signed up to the Halo Insider program, although not every Insider will get to play during this round of testing. 343 indicates that it hopes to give "every eligible Halo Insider" a chance to play during one of Halo Infinite's test flights before the game's launch later this year. The company also indicated that it is planning a livestream which will air before the technical preview and will walk potential testers through the test flight design.

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According to 343, the studio has been "given the ok to say our first Bot-focused technical preview could happen as soon as next weekend." The blog entry was posted on July 23, which means July 31 could be the public's first chance to test out early stages of the updates and changes in Halo Infinite. 343 has emphasized that the technical preview will not only focus on the gameplay experience but also on navigation through its menus. Invited testers will be given a limited number of in-game credits to test out Battle Pass and customization features, but nothing chosen now in the preview will carry over to the actual game.

Also revealed in the latest Inside Infinite blog are new screenshots of Halo Infinite. These images showcase locations, weapons, and concepts from the game in their pre-release stages. Fans can see the design of the CQS48 Bulldog, a combat shotgun from the Halo series that will be one of twelve available weapons to test out in the Weapon Drills of the technical preview. A couple of images of the Bazaar map have also been released, which is one of the three Bot Slayer maps.

To coincide with the technical preview, 343 has also released the new Halo Waypoint web and mobile app experiences. All Halo Insiders will be able to view their individual Battle Pass progression information, Challenges, and can also customize Spartans using the app. Halo Insiders who are invited to the technical preview can access all of their preview progress using the Waypoint web. 343 hopes this system will be another step forward for Halo Infinite in terms of ease of access to player information.

Halo Infinite releases late 2021 on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

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Source: Inside Infinite