Halo Infinite Multiplayer finally gets SWAT, FFA and Fiesta playlists this week

SWAT is finally coming!

Developer 343 Industries announced that Halo Infinite is finally getting a Tactical Slayer (SWAT) playlist this week, and fans everywhere breathed a sigh of relief. This will happen when the next update arrives on Dec 14, also adding dedicated playlists for Free-For-All, Fiesta and Slayer in multiplayer.

For those who haven’t touched Halo Infinite’s multiplayer mode because they’ve been too busy exploring Zeta Halo in the campaign, this just means that players can finally choose which game mode to play in multiplayer. Previously, Halo Infinite Multiplayer just threw you into a combined playlist of every game mode - meaning that you’d have to endure multiple Oddball and Capture the Flag matches to play SWAT.

SWAT has been one of Halo’s most popular game modes for years now, so you can imagine how unhappy fans were with this decision. According to 343’s community director Brian Jarrard, the developer had originally intended to add a Slayer playlist in 2022 with multiple variations of the game mode launching alongside it. Due to community feedback (read: very angry feedback), the team has decided to simply push these playlists out now and deliver everything else later on.

Halo Infinite’s multiplayer system hasn’t just drawn criticism for the lack of these playlists, however. Players have also pointed out how absurdly difficult it is to level up its Battle Pass. The 14 December update will address that by removing problematic mode-specific challenges from the game’s challenge system. New ones will replace them, which hopefully means that players will have an easier time leveling up.

The team is also adding a new category of challenges that will be based on, “accumulating player score.” Players have been asking for XP gains based on their performance during a match since launch, so this is a small fix on that front. Previously, this meant that win or lose, every player would get the same amount of XP from a match unless they checked off frustratingly specific challenges like ‘Kill an enemy using a pistol’. Now, your performance actually matters - if only just a little.