343 Industries recently released the first trailer for Halo Infinite Season 5, and fans are in for a treat with additions to the game coming next week. These features are set to address a large number of the fanbase’s most pressing concerns regarding the title, as well as adding a plethora of exciting new cosmetics and features.
One of the most exciting new changes coming to the game, however, is the massive shakeup coming to the free Events. Whereas in prior seasons Events would last one to two weeks at most, the newly renamed “Operations” will last four to six, and even after ending, they will remain accessible to players for a small fee.
How Halo Infinite Season 5 Tackles FOMO
In Halo Infinite Season 5, Battle Passes are shifting over to a new 50-tier system, rather than 100. Roughly the same amount of rewards will be present, but rather than unlocking things like left and right shoulder pads in separate tiers, they will be combined into one.
Additionally, all 20 free tiers of the pass will be the first 20 tiers, with the paid Premium tiers coming in the last 30, the latter of which also includes 1,000 in-game credits.
For those unfamiliar, unlike other games with battle pass systems, Halo Infinite does not remove its battle passes from the game once a season ends. Instead, the formerly free tracks become part of the paid pass, but the rewards are still accessible to all players, as long as they buy the pass for 1,000 credits (about $10 USD.)
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In Halo Infinite Season 5, the timeline will shift a bit. You will now have from the start of the season until the first “Operation” to unlock the 20 free tiers before the entire battle pass requires purchase. Of course, you will always keep whatever you unlocked even once this period ends. With the free tiers being up front, it shouldn’t be too hard to unlock them all in time.
Once an Operation begins, it will still be free, just as events always have been in Halo Infinite. But in Halo Infinite Season 5, they will now last much longer. Offering 20 tiers of free unlocks, players can also pay 500 credits to get a “Premium” Operation pass, which essentially just offers an extra unlock, or pay 2,000 credits to get that and unlock all rewards.
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If you do not want to pay, you will have four to six weeks to unlock all offerings in an Operation. If you miss out on that entire period, however, unlike prior events, Operations remain an option permanently, allowing players to switch to them at any time.
But once they have officially ended, like seasons, players will need the Premium version to unlock their rewards.
343 Industries has not said that past events will return as “Operations” passes, but it is something many members of the Halo community are hoping for, as it would not only provide significantly more unlockables to new players, but most of those events lasted only a couple of weeks at most.
By allowing events to remain in-game permanently, Halo Infinite Season 5 does a great job at significantly cutting down on the game’s tendency to use a player’s fear of missing out (FOMO) to get them to play the game.
However, some other systems still remain that play on that fear regardless, and as such it seems it will remain a core part of the game.
How FOMO Survives in Halo Infinite Season 5
While limited-time events were one of the most egregious examples of FOMO’s effect on the game, they were certainly not the only culprit. Due to the way the in-game store is designed, only a small portion of the game’s purchasable items are visible at any given point in time. While many items not shown can still be purchased when scrolling through the armory, some past items remain vaulted.
From what we know right now, Halo Infinite Season 5 will keep that system in place. While there are promised UI changes coming to the season, nothing has yet been said to suggest that all store items will be accessible at all times. However, the far more sinister FOMO element of the game remains the Weekly Ultimate Rewards offered.
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Every week, players have a number of challenges they can complete. Should they complete all of them, a Weekly Ultimate Challenge will appear, and once finished, a reward is unlocked. It could be an armor piece, a nameplate, a coating, or really any unlockable the game offers, technically.
Unfortunately, a different reward is offered every week, and these rewards never repeat. There is no way to unlock prior Ultimate Rewards unless they return, but the only time this ever happened was during a four-month stretch at the end of Season 2. This happened as a result of the season being extended by that length of time to allow Season 3 more time to cook.
This means that every single week, a new reward is offered in the game, and if not earned by reset time on Tuesday, it is effectively lost forever to the player. So while events may not be using FOMO to get players in the game, there is still a weekly unlockable that you could lose out on forever.
How Can Halo Infinite Fix FOMO Entirely?
While the changes to events in Halo Infinite Season 5 seem to suggest a strong sense that 343 Industries intends to cut down on the FOMO aspects of the game, these leftover bits keep it in the game for now.
After or during Halo Infinite Season 5, 343 Industries should add all past Ultimate Rewards back into the game, and alter the system so that once a player finishes their Weekly Ultimate Challenge, they then get to select one item from the pool of Ultimate Rewards.
A new item could still be added to the pool each week for players who have already earned them all, as well.
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Alternatively, the Ultimate Reward could be replaced with a weekly chance to earn 50-100 credits, with all past rewards being purchasable for that same amount.
This would make them earnable again, give players a chance to unlock store items for free (albeit it would take a long time to earn enough to buy any bundles), and remove the weekly FOMO, all while technically adding another possible revenue stream; it would be a win-win-win-win.
For now, it seems as though the Weekly Ultimate Reward system will remain as-is in Halo Infinite Season 5, which will launch next Tuesday, October 17, 2023. The first two “Operations” will be titled Combined Arms, beginning November 14th, and Winter Contingency III, beginning December 19th.
How do you feel about the FOMO situation in Halo Infinite Season 5? Do you think the changes implemented are enough, or do you hope 343 Industries eventually removes FOMO from the game entirely? Let us know in the comments and on our social media feeds!
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