Halo Infinite fans furious about being locked out of game in surprise delay

HALO Infinite is launching in full today, but fans are furious that they can’t pre-load the campaign.

The Xbox Series X launch title was pushed back by a whole year so fans of the franchise are eager to dive in.

Halo Infinite launched the multiplayer portion early as a betaCredit: 343 Industries

343 reveals that the Halo Infinite campaign can't be downloaded separately — 343 reveals that the Halo Infinite campaign can’t be downloaded separatelyCredit: 343 Industries

But developer 343 Industries has broken the news that players can’t download the campaign portion of the game in advance.

Basically, that means that when the game goes live, you’re going to have to wait around until the sizeable download has finished before you can begin playing.

Halo Infinite fans furious

And gamers aren’t happy about it, especially those who’ve booked time off work to get stuck in this morning.

“While you can’t officially pre-load the Halo Infinite campaign (sorry!) you can get a head start by installing the MP package if you don’t have it yet and save a little time tomorrow,” tweeted community director Brian Jarrard.

“Every single detail of this release of campaign feels like a cuck,” tweeted one disappointed fan.

“I’m so excited to play but no midnight release, no coop, no preload, no mission replays, 60 dollars for campaign only unless gamepass, etc.

“I am so pumped for the next year of halo but I also wish I didn’t have to wait months for the game actually feel finished.”

“Not being able to preload is dumb,” said another Twitter user, getting to the point.

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“Everything about this release is very amateurish,” chimed in @toxicknicksfan. “This is 343’s third Halo game, how they so bad at this?”

“It’s amazing how you guys consistently manage to botch Halo launches,” said someone else, piling on.

Not being able to pre-load means that some gamers won’t be able to play at all, judging by the replies on Twitter.

Halo Infinite file size

But on the plus side, keeping the entire game under 50GB is news that’s going over well.

You’re looking at an approximate file size of 48.42GB which covers the multiplayer and campaign.

The two are split as follows, but you can’t download the campaign individually — although if you downloaded the multiplayer beta, the news isn’t so bad:

Halo Infinite beta not installed:
- Halo Infinite multiplayer only: 26.53GB
- Halo Infinite multiplayer and campaign: 48.42GB
Halo Infinite beta already installed:
- Halo Infinite multiplayer update only: 3.97GB
- Halo Infinite campaign installation: 25.86GB
- Total download if Halo Infinite beta already installed: 29.83GB

Halo Infinite start time

As there’s no pre-load, the Halo Infinite campaign start times shared by 343 refers to when you can start the download.

Your internet speeds is going to determine how soon you can start playing after that.

10am PT
12pm CT
1pm ET
6pm GMT
7pm CET

You can help things along by downloading the Halo Infinite multiplayer client so you’ll only be waiting on a 29.83GB download rather than a 48.42GB file.