Japanese Xbox site calls Halo Infinite a “battle royale shooter”

A listing on Microsoft’s official Japanese site has kicked off a wave of speculation that Halo Infinite will be getting a battle royale mode. The popular FPS is set to make its debut this Holiday on the Xbox Series X.

Microsoft gave players their first proper look at Halo Infinite on July 23 during their Series X event. The gameplay trailer revealed the title to be open world, as well as showing off new mechanics like a grappling hook.

However, despite developer 343 Studios denying rumors of a Fortnite-style mode in 2019, a new listing on the official Japanese Xbox website has kicked the rumor mill into overdrive after describing the FPS as a “battle royale shooter.”

Halo Infinite to have battle royale mode?

On August 1, users on Twitter and Reddit discovered that the official Japanese page for Halo Infinite has the game listed as “Battle Royale Shooting” under its genre.

While the developer has said in the past that they are not working in on a BR mode for the title, the Microsoft listing kicked off a wave of speculation from the game’s fanbase.

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Dexerto searched other countries’ listings for the FPS, and all of them have the genre simply as “Shooter.” So it could simply be an error, especially given its rough translation.

The rumor comes off the heels of Microsoft’s announcement on July 31 that Infinite’s multiplayer is going to be “free-to-play” at launch. Popular esports commentator Alex ‘Goldenboy’ Mendez pointed out that the F2P model has long been associated with battle royales.

While the listing is intriguing, it’s not uncommon for sites to make errors or list the wrong information. It should also be stated that the page was roughly translated, and could be being taken out of context.

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At the time of writing, Microsoft has yet to respond. However in April 2019, 343 Studios stated that a BR mode was not being worked on, and that players could “probably create one” using the game’s Forge creator tool.