In a recent Reddit post, Halo community director Ske7ch gives transparency on what led up to Halo Infinite's development and where 343i currently stands.

Halo Infinite has divided the franchise's faithful, and some Halo fans joke this is the second Great Schism for the community. Based on recent posts on the Halo Reddit, they're not too far off the mark. Halo Infinite's F2P structure has been widely criticized across the board, and gamers have issues with the intense monetization and challenge-based progression systems.

Community director Ske7ch has had a lot to say about Halo Infinite on Reddit. Ske7ch admits that the studio has a lot of work to do with Halo Infinite and confirms bigger changes will take some time due to the "complexity" of the game.

343 Industries could use freebies as a way to keep players interested in Halo Infinite's multiplayer.

Halo Infinite currently has big problems with progression, customization, and monetization. It's a big reason why the F2P multiplayer is only in a beta phase (and a reason why it'll probably stay in beta for a long time). While 343i is planning evolutions, changes, and updates to the game, they're also experimenting with engagement-boosting models like free items.

Microsoft recently confirmed that Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers would get a few free items for Halo Infinite, including an AR skin and extremely valuable XP boosters and challenge swaps. While these things are created as a means of monetization--e.g. creating a problem and selling gamers a solution or a shortcut to that solution for real money--a steady flow of freebies might be a great avenue to spark both player retention and Game Pass subscription retention that may keep gamers playing Infinite for the long run.

Quake just got its first major content update after 25 years, a new trend that could resurrected old-school classics in exciting new ways.

Following the big RTX update for Quake II and re-release of the original on next-gen consoles with 4K 120FPS support, MachineGames and Bethesda just added a new co-op horde mode to Quake.

This expands the legendary 90s FPS in a brand new way with survival co-op action, and could set a new precedent that sees Bethesda going back and upgrading other classics in its wide catalog, maybe even the original Doom and Wolfenstein games.

Final Fantasy XIV's latest expansion is the most popular of all time and has pushed Steam players to an all-time new high.

Endwalker is one of the most important expansions for FFXIV. Not only does it mark the end of the Hydaelyn-Zodiark saga, but it marks the beginning of the next era of the beloved MMORPG. It's also capitalizing on a massive surge in players that started in 2020 and has now reached a new peak on Steam.

According to new figures from Steam DB, Final Fantasy XIV hit a record 95,540 concurrent players since Endwalker's release. That's up 42% from July's previous high of 67,000+ users on Steam, and this significant jump in players has also packed Square Enix's datacenters so much that users have to wait in thousands-long queues in order to get in.

The next Dragon Age game is still primarily a singleplayer RPG, BioWare has re-confirmed.

As part of its Dragon Age day celebration, BioWare tells fans that Dragon Age 4 will retain the beloved singleplayer-first formula that its games are known for. It sounds as if things haven't changed since the next-gen Dragon Age was rebooted back in February, which saw the game shifting from a live-based online experience with evolving content to a more traditional singleplayer adventure.

"Speaking of building new worlds and stories for you to explore, we want to let you all know that we're still hard at work on building the next single-player focused experience for Dragon Age. We're excited for next year when we can talk more about what we're working on," the studio said.

Battlefield executive producer Aleksander Grondal is the latest to leave DICE following Battlefield 2042's launch.

Battlefield 2042 has proven to be a contentious turning point for DICE. The game has released to middling reviews and has been blasted by the community for its myriad of issues, leading to two big patches from DICE. Now publisher EA and DICE are making big transitions for the future of the franchise which has led to a changing of the guard.

The changes see Respawn boss Vince Zampella taking over the franchise and multi-year veterans like DICE general manager Oskar Gabrielson leaving to make room for a new GM, Other departures include Aleksander Grondal, who has spent 14 years at DICE producing games like Battlefield 3, Battlefield 4, and serving as executive producer on Battlefield 2042.

Geoff Keighley responds to and clarifies controversial statements he made to the Washington Post about speaking out on Activision-Blizzard's harassment issues live on stage at The Game Awards 2021.

On Twitter, Keighley points out that Activision-Blizzard will not be involved in the actual The Game Awards 2021 show. There will be no reveals, trailers, or content showcasing Activision-Blizzard games and products during the show itself--instead, the problematic publisher will only be included in the listed nominees.

"Beyond its nominations, I can confirm that Activision-Blizzard will not be a part of this year's The Game Awards. The Game Awards is a time of celebration for this industry, the biggest form of entertainment in the world. I also realize we have a big platform which can accelerate and inspire change. We are committed to that, but we all need to work together to build a better and a more inclusive environment so everyone feels safe to build the world's best games."

Halo Infinite is 343i's ambitious idea for a game-as-a-platform, but this vision won't come to reality any time soon.

Like Fortnite, Halo Infinite's free-to-play multiplayer will likely stay in beta phase for the foreseeable future. The reason for this is simple: the game simply isn't ready yet and needs a lot of work. Infinite's progression and monetization systems have stirred up mass controversy among Halo faithful and gamers want answers as well as changes to what's described as a "predatory drip-feed" business model predicated on "nickel and diming" consumers.

343 Industries has responded to criticisms saying that changes are coming. More immediate updates include more XP doled out for challenges and promises of upcoming playlist options. More significant changes--like those to the progression and monetization mechanics--will take a lot longer to implement, hence why we think this will stay in beta for a while.

BioShock 4 will reportedly take place during the 1960s and set in a brand new frozen city in the South Pole.

The next BioShock game will take place in the glacial surface of Antarctica, sources have told VideoGameChronicle and Sacred Symbols' Colin Moriarity.

BioShock 4, which is believed to be called BioShock Isolation, will trade the sunken city of Rapture in the Atlantic for the cold wastes of Borealis in the Antarctic. Sources also say it's set in the 1960s era which opens up all sorts of possibilities for pop culture references, and will be tied to the original BioShock games' storylines.

In a new paper published in Space: Science & Technology, a team of researchers have created a new lightweight robotic arm with precision controls.

As missions in space increase in scope and variety, so to will the tools necessary to accomplish them. Robots are already used throughout space, but robotic arms used on Earth do not translate well to space. A flat plane relative to the ground enables Earth-bound robotic arms to articulate freely in a three-dimensional coordinate grid with relatively simple programming. However, with constantly changing environments in space, a robotic arm would struggle to orient itself correctly.

Researchers from the Harbin Institute of Technology's (HIT) School of Mechanical Engineering and Automation have developed a robotic arm with the ability to adjust its position and speed in real-time based on its environment. The arm weighs 9.23 kilograms (20 pounds) and can move almost a quarter of its weight.