Will Halo Infinite have a battle royale? Cryptic tweet sparks speculation

Halo’s developers, 343 Industries, have spurred massive intrigue across the internet with a cryptic tweet that seemingly suggests that the upcoming Halo Infinite will be accompanied by a battle royale.

As fans of Xbox’s iconic Halo franchise continue to eagerly anticipate the next installment, murmurings about the game’s possible modes have increased. While the title, Halo Infinite, was announced at E3 2018, alongside promise of a public beta before launch, it has been subject to delays — now trending toward Spring 2021.

In July 2020, 343 Industries announced that the multiplayer portion of Halo Infinite would be released as a free-to-play game. Immediately drawing comparisons to Call of Duty: Warzone, which followed Fortnite and Apex Legends’ F2P models, fans quickly began wondering if Halo would be revealing its own battle royale.

Now, that curiosity has been thrown headfirst into the blender, as a tweet from the official Halo Twitter account uses imagery and language that are unmistakable reminiscent of battle royales. While the developers remain coy, expectations are growing.

In a response to Geoff Keighley, who shared screenshots of Halo Infinite, the game’s account says “only the hottest of drops” alongside a .gif of drop pods descending toward the ground.

Sure, that could be construed as a reference to releasing cool new pictures. But, If you’re at all involved in the worlds of first-person shooters, gaming, or social media, you know all too well that “dropping in hot” and flying in from the sky have immediate BR connotations.

• Read more: Halo Infinite release date: leaks, multiplayer & gameplay

Hundreds of quote retweets and replies later, it’s very clear that fans believe this is a legitimate tease of a Halo battle royale. While Warzone star Zack ‘Zlaner’ Lane replied with an intrigued “wait…,” the CDL’s James ‘Clayster’ Eubanks couldn’t withhold his excitement.

Still, the developers are keeping mighty quiet on the front and diehard Halo fans believe the frenzy may be unwarranted. In response to one such fan who was laughing at those eagerly connecting the BR dots, Halo’s community director Brian Jarrard replied with a simple facepalm emoji.

It may be hard to imagine a community director not realizing just how BR-centric that tweet feels, but, like much of the game’s development, it’s impossible to know what’s really going on.

• Read more: Elon Musk reveals Halo is the only console game he’s played

A F2P multiplayer, a pre-launch public beta, and cryptic “hot drop” tweets do sound like the makings of a BR, especially considering today’s gaming trends. Nonetheless, fans will need to wait to find out for sure — and the next calendar date could be in June, for E3 2021.