Halo Infinite won't have assassinations at launch, 343i confirms

343 Industries officially confirms Halo Infinite will be the first game that ships without assassinations in multiplayer.

Halo Infinite will launch in Holiday 2021 with two major changes: free-to-play multiplayer, and no assassinations. Every mainline Halo game to date has featured one-hit kills if you melee someone in the back, and Reach even added a satisfying animation to assassinations. Those will come to Infinite post-launch.

"Assassinations aren't in for launch," Halo Infinite multiplayer lead Tom French said in a recent stream.

"We actually really love assassinations. What happens in a lot of levels is that people just turn them off, because there's a gameplay disadvantage to it. One of the things we really wanted to do is take a step back and think about how these things fit into the Infinite gameplay loop.

"One thing Quinn [del Hoyo, sandbox lead] really talk about is that when we bring them back we want them to fit right into the sandbox and into the loops of the game and bring them back in a way that feels meaningful so there always an accessible tool, but also so that they're a flourish moment."

The first Halo Infinite technical preview will go live tomorrow, August 29, and we have an invite so keep an eye out for footage, impressions, and content on our experiences.