First Halo Infinite ranked and competitive multiplayer details revealed

It's a big day for FPS fans. Not only did we get our first details about Battlefield 2042's Hazard Zone mode earlier today, but now the folks at 343 Industries have shared the first details about ranked and competitive multiplayer in Halo Infinite. So far, players have mostly been exposed to the more casual side of Halo Infinite's multiplayer, but today we're learning of some key decisions 343 has made for Halo Infinite's more competitive game modes.

If you're planning to climb the ranked ladder in Halo Infinite's multiplayer, this is probably information you'll want to read through. These new details were shared in a lengthy Halo Waypoint blog post that featured interviews with several key people working on Halo Infinite's multiplayer: lead multiplayer designer Andrew Witts, Sandbox design lead Quinn DelHoyo, Sandbox equipment designer Elan Gleiber, and the competitive insights team's Austin "Mikwen" McCleary and Greg "Gregor" Haas.

Perhaps the biggest reveal of this interview comes right at the start, where it's confirmed that the BR75 will be the sole starting weapon for ranked and competitive modes. Perhaps that's not a huge surprise considering that the battle rifle has been the starting weapon in several Halo games, but no sidearm is a rather significant departure. Witts says that during 343's competitive testing, players felt effective at spawn with just the battle rifle while still feeling the need to find additional weapons on the map.

In addition, 343 Industries announced today that the motion tracker will be disabled in ranked and competitive games, along with the grenade hitmarkers that made their debut in Halo 5. With those two turned off, it should be a lot more challenging to find enemy players on the map, as grenade hitmarkers, in particular, were a very big indicator of where wounded players were hiding.

In ranked and competitive play, friendly fire will be turned on, so players must always be aware of their teammate's positioning, while the modes available in ranked play include Slayer, Capture the Flag, Strongholds, and Oddball. Unfortunately, if you were hoping for some kind of ranked or competitive SWAT mode like the author of this article may have been, it looks like you'll have to keep on hoping and waiting because it won't be there in Halo Infinite.

Finally, 343 says that weapons, equipment, and grenades that spawn on the map will always appear in the same location and will respawn at the same intervals. So, if you're playing on a certain map in Slayer, you'll be able to memorize where those item spawns are and even the time in between spawns. You can learn more about competitive and ranked play in Halo Infinite by watching the video embedded above, but also be sure to read the full interview over on Halo Waypoint for more specifics about these decisions.