With Halo 5: Guardians just 9 days from release, Microsoft has revealed a ton of details on the multiplayer component.
The first details outline the banning system in Halo 5. In order to “maintain the quality of the Arena experience and sanctity of competition,” 343 Industries will track:
- Quitting matches
- Betrayals or team killing
- Idling (AFK)
- Intentional suicides
- Excessive disconnects
If someone repetitively engages in activities such as the ones listed, they will receive a temporary ban. “The duration of each ban is dependent on the offense and becomes more severe with each successive infraction, so continually killing your teammates to steal the Sniper Rifle will quickly lead to long timeouts from matchmade play,” 343 said.
343 also detailed some overall multiplayer components:
- You will never join an Arena match that’s already in progress, but Warzone matches (which can last 30 minutes or longer) do support join-in-progress.
- Competitive Skill Ranking (CSR): When you play Halo 5 for the first time, you’ll first have to complete a series of “placement matches” before receiving a CSR. Finish 10 games and you’ll be placed into one of seven CSR ranks (see them below)
- Matchmaking: The algorithm prioritizes match quality “above all else.” This begins by attempting to find other combatants at your exact CSR. If that’s not enough, the pool will be widened to include players who are “around your same skill.”
- Seasons: These challenge players to reach the highest CSR possible in one month. They take place in “select Seasonal Arena playlists” and reset every month. Special cosmetic rewards are given to top players.
- Ranks: There will be seven ranks Bronze, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Onyx, and Champion. The only way to improve your rank is to win. Once you reach Onyx you will earn points for winning. Then the 200 players with most points will be awarded the Champion rank.
Halo 5 is scheduled to release on October 27th for the Xbox One. Stay tuned to Gamespresso for any new updates.