Community

Community Update

Alex Wakeford

Entrenched Endeavors

Esports

Season 2 for Halo Infinite brought new maps, modes, and updates to the experience for all players including of course the competitive community. Today we wanted to detail changes coming to the map rotation for HCS. These changes have already been reflected in the Ranked playlist since Season 2’s launch.



Map rotation goals:



<ul><li>Provide a well-rounded competitive experience
with a variety of maps and modes.</li><li>Keep players engaged with new content to compete
on while minimizing interference with HCS roadmap. </li><li>Entertain fans with exciting and fresh content
to watch. </li></ul>



With Season 2 released on May 3, we’ve integrated the new map Catalyst into the rotation, as well as the King of the Hill mode which has been updated with capture and scoring mechanics in comparison to the original versions which we feel will deliver a competitive and exciting experience. Here at 343 Industries, the Competitive Insights Team has been thoroughly testing new map and mode combinations, and the ranked playlist was already updated to get extra coverage on the maps and modes as well.



New additions:



<ul><li>CTF Catalyst</li><li>Slayer Catalyst</li><li>KotH Live Fire</li><li>KotH Recharge</li><li>KotH Streets</li></ul>



While it’s important to add new content into the rotation as the season moves along, we also need to ensure the map rotation isn’t too big which in the past we’ve seen this to be too much for teams to practice and lowered overall quality of play.



Earlier in the HCS season, we asked players to provide feedback on maps and modes via surveys through our online partner, FACEIT. Thank you to everyone who took the time to give your feedback, it was this data that we used to make decisions for Season 2, especially the map rotation. When we asked players to rate each map and mode combination (AKA gametype), you told us that Slayer on Bazaar was the gametype that was furthest away from hitting the quality bar. Based on this feedback, we felt it was appropriate to replace Team Slayer on Bazaar with Team Slayer on Catalyst. 



This is the new map rotation:



<figure class="wp-block-table"><table class=""><tbody><tr><td>Mode</td><td>Maps</td></tr><tr><td>Capture the Flag</td><td>– Aquarius – Bazaar – Catalyst</td></tr><tr><td>King of the Hill</td><td>– Live Fire – Recharge – Streets</td></tr><tr><td>Oddball</td><td>– Live Fire – Recharge – Streets</td></tr><tr><td>Slayer</td><td>– Aquarius – Catalyst – Live Fire – Recharge – Streets</td></tr><tr><td>Strongholds</td><td>– Live Fire – Recharge – Streets</td></tr></tbody></table></figure>



We also wanted to provide details on how tournament map rotations were going to be made now that there’s an additional objective mode in the rotation. Philosophically speaking, HCS considers all objective modes to be prioritized equally so therefore our goal is going to be balancing the modes during a tournament so that again we’re providing a well-rounded competitive experience that will test players across everything. 



The following is unchanged:



Best of 3:



<ul><li>Game 1: Objective</li><li>Game 2: Slayer</li><li>Game 3: Objective </li></ul>



Best of 5:



<ul><li>Game 1: Objective</li><li>Game 2: Slayer</li><li>Game 3: Objective</li><li>Game 4: Objective</li><li>Game 5: Slayer</li></ul>



Best of 7:



<ul><li>Game 1: Objective </li><li>Game 2: Slayer</li><li>Game 3: Objective </li><li>Game 4: Objective</li><li>Game 5: Slayer</li><li>Game 6: Objective</li><li>Game 7: Slayer</li></ul>



 In a Best of 5 series, you’ll see a unique mode each time an objective mode comes up. We will do our best to balance the total number of occurrences for each objective mode throughout each tournament. 



Below is an example of a few rounds in order to illustrate how rotations will be created. 



Round 1:



<ul><li>Game 1: CTF</li><li>Game 2: Slayer</li><li>Game 3: Strongholds</li><li>Game 4: Oddball</li><li>Game 5: Slayer</li></ul>



Round 2:



<ul><li>Game 1: Strongholds</li><li>Game 2: Slayer</li><li>Game 3: Oddball</li><li>Game 4: King of the Hill</li><li>Game 5: Slayer</li></ul>



Round 3:



<ul><li>Game 1: Oddball</li><li>Game 2: Slayer</li><li>Game 3: King of the Hill</li><li>Game 4: CTF</li><li>Game 5: Slayer</li></ul>



Round 4:



<ul><li>Game 1: King of the Hill</li><li>Game 2: Slayer</li><li>Game 3: CTF</li><li>Game 4: Strongholds</li><li>Game 5: Slayer</li></ul>



We wish all teams the best of luck through the rest of the season on the road to the Halo World Championship. 



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During the development of the Halo Infinite, the 343 Industries team partnered closely with Dolby, innovators in the science of sight and sound for movies, TV shows, music, and gaming. Thanks to Dolby technologies we were able to take the audiovisual experience for Halo Infinite to all new heights, delivering that same world-class experience to players at home. For the Halo Championship Series, we wanted to build off the partnership and extend to Halo esports in all new ways. 



Today we’re excited to announce that the Halo Championship
Series is now officially partnered with Dolby to showcase the amazing experience
that Dolby brings to Halo Infinite. 



As part of the partnership, Dolby will be onsite with a
booth in Kansas City, Orlando, and the Halo World Championship right here in
Seattle, showcasing the extraordinary spatial sound of Dolby Atmos and visual
fidelity of Dolby Vision in Halo Infinite. Fans will be able to go hands-on to
truly experience the difference for themselves. Dolby will also be offering
free trials of Dolby Atmos for Headphones via the Dolby Access app on Microsoft
Store so you can have the same experience right in the comfort of your home.



Be sure to stop by the booth and try it out for yourself,
we’re very interested in hearing feedback from our competitive players!



And, in the future, we’re also working with Dolby to deliver
the HCS broadcast in Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision so fans at home watching the
show can experience every moment like never before. 



We want to thank Dolby for supporting the Halo community not
only with their amazing technology already in place with Halo Infinite, but
also for supporting the HCS and providing a great experience for players and
fans at the events. 



We’ll see you in Kansas City!

Dolby Joins the HCS