Halo 5: Guardians should see more game modes and a community Forge playlist arrive at the end of February, according to a developer from 343 Industries.
Following Halo 5‘s launch, many fans were disappointed in the lack of variety in the available game modes, which omitted fan favourites such as Infection, Big Team Battle Heavies, Griffball, King of the Hill, Oddball, Fiesta, and other staples of the series.
It’s been known that 343 Industries has been working on integrating new gametypes since Halo 5‘s launch in November, but fans have had little confirmation to hold onto until now.
Studio Head Josh Holmes took to the Team Beyond forums to address the topic of incorporating community-made Forge maps into Halo 5‘s matchmaking.
“We’re working on a community playlist now and it should be live within the next month,” he said. “It’s been pretty incredible seeing what the Forge community has been able to build so quickly with the new toolset and we want to showcase some of those creations.”
He goes on to state that Halo 5 should see a new game mode(s) added next month.
“As Bravo has hinted, we’re also working on some new classic game types. We’re hoping to release the first of those toward the end of February, testing permitting.”
He also followed up by stating ‘classic game types’ specifically refers to actual game modes rather than ‘classic Halo settings’ in existing game types.
The only hiccup in the last statement is “the first of those“, which leaves it open to interpretation – is there only one game mode releasing in Feburary, or is it the first batch?
Both the community playlist and game modes should help breathe life into Halo 5‘s multiplayer community – the game itself is incredible, but at the moment suffers from the aforementioned lack of game modes and in-game community integration. With 343 Industries focused on addressing both of these points within the next month, Halo 5 should be able to grasp the longevity that its predecessors held for so long.
Given the incredible number of Forge creations, such as classic Halo: CE maps, Halo 2‘s Terminal remake, and Halo 3‘s Sandtrap remake, we’re excited to see which maps 343 adds to the rotation in their upcoming community playlist.
343 Industries also recently announced that Halo 5‘s Forge will soon have pre-built structures and new blank canvases to build on.