Halo Infinite's campaign will not have a pre-load option on consoles or PC, it has been confirmed.
Halo Infinite is a digital-based game that must be downloaded directly from Microsoft. This includes both the free-to-play multiplayer and the $59.99 singleplayer campaign. The retail Halo Infinite disc does not contain a playable game and is instead a physical DRM authentication check.
Despite being a forced download game, there's no way to pre-load the campaign onto Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, or PC. It doesn't matter if you're an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscriber or if you bought the physical disc--you still cannot pre-emptively download the full game in preparation for the December 8 release.
Instead, users will have to download the game once 343i and Microsoft flip the switch on December 8, 2021 at 1PM EST. Sadly there will not be a midnight release for Halo Infinite.
Hopefully the massive influx of players will not crash the game's servers due to the simultaneous load of F2P multiplayer and millions of people downloading the campaign at nearly the same time.
Read Also: Halo Infinite campaign has two parts: story missions and free roam
Check below for exact Halo Infinite release times per specific regions:
- Seattle - 10AM PST
- New York - 1PM EST
- Mexico City - 12PM CST
- Sao Paulo - 3PM BRT
- London - 8PM GMT
- Berlin - 7PM CET
- Moscow - 9PM MSK
- Riyadh - 9PM AST
- New Delhi - 11:30 PM IST
- Tokyo - December 9, 3AM JST
- Hong Kong - December 9, 2AM HKT
- Sydney - December 9, 5AM AEDT
- Auckland - December 9, 7AM NZDT