After its frustrating Tenrai event, Halo Infinite’s upcoming samurai challenge will see some significant improvements — specifically, more earnable in-game cosmetics.
The Tenrai multiplayer event for Halo Infinite — the first of many such events — offered players some cool samurai gear for their Spartan if they were willing to complete a host of challenges. However, some of the items shown in the marketing for the event weren’t earnable in-game and instead found their way into the store, and advertisements weren’t clear on which items would be free and which would be paid. That was a mistake, said head of design Jerry Hook in 343 Industries’ holiday 2021 community stream, and something the team is looking to rectify next year.
“We want the events to be a place where you can earn new content and not care about whether you’re going to pay or not,” said Hook. “And we want that content to be high quality. That’s why we wanted the Fracture [Tenrai event] — it’s completely new armor that’s all earned by the player playing during the event. It’s completely new, achievable stuff throughout the entire season. None of that should be available in the store. We made that mistake; I’m sorry about that.”
Hook said that there will be several improvements to the event when Tenrai returns on Jan. 4, 2022. Players will see fewer XP bonuses and challenge swaps in the Tenrai reward track. Instead, players will be able to pick up actual cosmetics like armor coatings, shoulder pieces, and other cosmetic items for their in-game Spartan.
Some of the pay-only samurai gear that appeared in the marketing for the event will also see a major change. The items shown in the trailer will no longer live in the store, and will instead be earnable exclusively in-game during the event. Hook didn’t reveal whether players who already purchased those items during the first Tenrai event will get any kind of refund or credit to their account. We’ve reached out to 343 Industries regarding this change, and will update this article if we hear back.
Hook also said that 343 will add more event challenges, so players won’t get stuck on a random weekly challenge and be unable to progress and earn new rewards. This comes as part of a wider initiative to improve the challenge system, which 343 partially implemented on Wednesday. The team is also working to make all the Fracture events more fulfilling for free players, ensuring the events are worth their time regardless of whether they want to spend money in the store.
Source: Polygon
