Community

Community Spotlight

Alex Wakeford

Spotlight: February 17, 2022

Games

We’ve been studying player ranks and ranked matchmaking all-up extremely closely since launch and we are excited to be rolling out updates next week. These updates should help address common issues in ranked such as rank inflation, inaccurate skill assessment, uneven player skills, and more.



First and foremost, our skill rating system has been analyzing real matches since launch and we’re ready to deploy some of the learnings from this live data. These learnings will help the system become even better at assessing a player’s skill and should place them more accurately in our skill distributions.



This will be the first backend skill update like this since launch, and we plan to do them continuously throughout the life of the game. Just like we’ve been doing, we will keep monitoring matches and rolling out updates frequently to make sure the system can stay up to date with the latest player behaviors – thus continuing to accurately assess player skill.  



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">CSR Updates & Rank Reset</h3>



In combination with this skill rating improvement, we will be resetting Competitive Skill Ranking (CSR) ranks so that everyone can get an updated CSR that is more indicative of their skill.



Since we saw that the CSR system was being overly generous since launch, these changes are being rolled out to help bring things closer in line to where they should be. This period led to a full tier inflation of ranks and, as a result, most players should expect to be placed a full tier lower (Diamond players will find themselves in Platinum, Platinum players will find themselves in Gold, etc.) after this rank reset.



When we perform this rank reset, we will also be changing a few aspects of the CSR system: 



<ul><li>As mentioned above, since the system was placing players too high, every player will likely find themselves one tier lower after this update. Please keep in mind that this is not due to an error in the new system, but an error in the old one. </li><li>Typically, after you complete your placement matches, your CSR is a little lower than where the system thinks you’ll end up after playing for a while. This happened in Halo 5 as well because it helps start each rank reset (typically during a Season rollover) off fresh and provides players room to progress their CSR rank. Since ranks are being reset in the middle of the season, this will be reduced to help make sure you have a shorter climb after your placement matches.</li><li>At launch, Diamond 1 was the highest CSR players could land at after completing their 10 placement matches. Much like above, since we’re resetting ranks in the middle of the season, we want to reduce the disruption it may cause by raising this to Diamond 5. This will not affect most players, but it will mean Onyx players will spend less time in Diamond since the system already knows that they are likely an Onyx player.</li></ul>



We are aiming to have all the updates and rank reset happen on the afternoon of Tuesday, February 22.



We believe that these targeted changes will help improve the ranked experience for players of all skills by providing more accurate, balanced, and fair matches. That said, this isn’t the end of our updates to ranked, it’s only the beginning. There is still more to go after, and we’ll continue to make updates based on your feedback and live game data. If you encounter anything out of the norm in your ranked experience after this update, please let us know by continuing to provide feedback here on Waypoint, Twitter, reddit, etc.



And, in case you missed it, CTF on Behemoth was recently removed from the Ranked playlists. You can read up on the decision <a href="https://forums.halowaypoint.com/t/jan-26-ranked-playlist-update/496232">here on Waypoint.</a>



We hope you get to jump in and enjoy these updates to Ranked when it rolls out next week!

Unyshek

Halo Infinite – Ranked Matchmaking Updates

In advance of the debut of the Halo television series on March 24, Paramount+ has confirmed that the show has been renewed for a second season! We’re excited to say that Season 1 of the upcoming series featuring Pablo Schreiber as our hero the Master Chief Spartan-117, Natascha McElhone as Dr. Halsey, and Jen Taylor as Cortana is just the beginning. 



David Wiener will join Season 2 as showrunner and executive producer, known for his excellent work on “Brave New World”. Paramount+ has released a press release sharing the news, which you can find <a href="https://www.viacomcbspressexpress.com/paramount-plus/releases/view?id=59154">here</a>.



Halo will be available starting on March 24 in all markets with Paramount+ including the US, Latin America, Canada, the Nordics and Australia. Additionally, as part of a special partnership with Paramount+, Halo will debut on SKY in Italy and Germany and on Canal+ in France as a Paramount+ Original series ahead of the Paramount+ launch in these markets, which is slated for the second half of 2022. Halo will debut in England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and the Caribbean when Paramount+ launches by this summer, and on Paramount+ in South Korea during that same time frame. The series will also be available on SkyShowtime in select European regions once that service launches.



We are beyond excited for Halo fans around the world to experience the incredible Master Chief story that Amblin, Showtime, Paramount+ and 343 Industries have brought to life, and look forward to sharing even more exciting news in the weeks to come!

343 INDUSTRIES

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Cyber Showdown Press Kit

Y’know, we have often asked ourselves how we can make Spartans even cooler than they already are. We’ve come up with a few different answers to that over the years, one of our most recent being “What if they were samurai from an alternate, non-canonical universe?” Our next Event in Halo Infinite’s free to play multiplayer considers what if Spartans had some kind of holographic neon mohawk? What if a digital visor could burst out from your helmet to visually accent your tactical (and stylish) acuity?



Get ready for a synthwave showdown, Spartans. Go forth into matchmaking in all your heliotrope luminance. The Cyber Showdown Event is live!



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<iframe loading="lazy" title="Halo Infinite | Cyber Showdown Launch Trailer" width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qXifTPUqjJM?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div></figure>



Running across two weeks from January 18 to February 1, the Cyber Showdown Event invites you to jump into the new Attrition mode to earn free, limited-time customization rewards.



Attrition is a frantic new Slayer mode where lives are shared across your team. Each team has a limited number of lives—revive your teammates when they fall and work together to deplete the enemy’s lifepool to finish them off. Last team standing wins! It’s classic, competitive 4v4 action with a unique spin on how you operate as a team.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="576" src="https://wpassets.halowaypoint.com/wp-content/2022/01/Cyber-Showdown-1024x576.jpg" alt="Cyber Showdown image of two Spartans and the personal AI Fret between them." class="wp-image-25586" srcset="https://wpassets.halowaypoint.com/wp-content/2022/01/Cyber-Showdown-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://wpassets.halowaypoint.com/wp-content/2022/01/Cyber-Showdown-300x169.jpg 300w, https://wpassets.halowaypoint.com/wp-content/2022/01/Cyber-Showdown-768x432.jpg 768w, https://wpassets.halowaypoint.com/wp-content/2022/01/Cyber-Showdown-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://wpassets.halowaypoint.com/wp-content/2022/01/Cyber-Showdown-2048x1152.jpg 2048w, https://wpassets.halowaypoint.com/wp-content/2022/01/Cyber-Showdown-1568x882.jpg 1568w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



Cyber Showdown also features a unique reward track with themed items, similar to what you’ve come to expect from Fracture: Tenrai.



There are 10 Event Challenges overall, spread evenly through your pool of Weekly Challenges, while the Event is live. For each Event Challenge completed, you will earn the next reward from your Event Reward track and unlock more cyber-themed goodness.



Check out some of the rewards you’ll be getting below!



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="576" src="https://wpassets.halowaypoint.com/wp-content/2022/01/HIS1MP_Event_Cyber_Showdown_VisID_Rewards_3840x2160-1024x576.jpg" alt="Event Rewards for Cyber Showdown." class="wp-image-25572" srcset="https://wpassets.halowaypoint.com/wp-content/2022/01/HIS1MP_Event_Cyber_Showdown_VisID_Rewards_3840x2160-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://wpassets.halowaypoint.com/wp-content/2022/01/HIS1MP_Event_Cyber_Showdown_VisID_Rewards_3840x2160-300x169.jpg 300w, https://wpassets.halowaypoint.com/wp-content/2022/01/HIS1MP_Event_Cyber_Showdown_VisID_Rewards_3840x2160-768x432.jpg 768w, https://wpassets.halowaypoint.com/wp-content/2022/01/HIS1MP_Event_Cyber_Showdown_VisID_Rewards_3840x2160-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://wpassets.halowaypoint.com/wp-content/2022/01/HIS1MP_Event_Cyber_Showdown_VisID_Rewards_3840x2160-2048x1152.jpg 2048w, https://wpassets.halowaypoint.com/wp-content/2022/01/HIS1MP_Event_Cyber_Showdown_VisID_Rewards_3840x2160-1568x882.jpg 1568w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption><a href="https://wpassets.halowaypoint.com/wp-content/2022/01/HIS1MP_Event_Cyber_Showdown_VisID_Rewards_3840x2160-scaled.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Click here for high-res image. (opens in a new tab)">Click here for high-res image.</a></figcaption></figure>



Those who jump in during the event will also receive the New Heights backdrop for your Spartan ID, and be sure to keep an eye out for other effulgently extravagant Event items in the Store as well.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="576" src="https://wpassets.halowaypoint.com/wp-content/2022/01/CyberShowdown_Emblem_Gift_1920x1080-1024x576.png" alt="A preview of the New Heights backdrop. " class="wp-image-25600" srcset="https://wpassets.halowaypoint.com/wp-content/2022/01/CyberShowdown_Emblem_Gift_1920x1080-1024x576.png 1024w, https://wpassets.halowaypoint.com/wp-content/2022/01/CyberShowdown_Emblem_Gift_1920x1080-300x169.png 300w, https://wpassets.halowaypoint.com/wp-content/2022/01/CyberShowdown_Emblem_Gift_1920x1080-768x432.png 768w, https://wpassets.halowaypoint.com/wp-content/2022/01/CyberShowdown_Emblem_Gift_1920x1080-1536x864.png 1536w, https://wpassets.halowaypoint.com/wp-content/2022/01/CyberShowdown_Emblem_Gift_1920x1080-1568x882.png 1568w, https://wpassets.halowaypoint.com/wp-content/2022/01/CyberShowdown_Emblem_Gift_1920x1080.png 1920w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



Well, we’d better not keep you any longer. Jump into Halo Infinite’s free to play multiplayer and start searching Cyber Showdown – Attrition.



See you on the battlefield!

Cyber Showdown Event Launch

Tashi

HCS Update – January 2022