'Halo Infinite' fan finds hidden battle-royale-style mode on PC

Halo Infinite has no shortage of multiplayer game modes for you and your fellow Spartans to try out, but one Redditor discovered that there are 14 more that developer 343 didn't tell us about, including one that combines team deathmatch with battle royale mechanics called Attrition. Reddit user WickedSoldier991 stumbled upon these "hidden" modes when they launched the game in Steam's offline mode, and they were able to save the modes so they could play them online in custom games.

Currently, it's not clear if these modes are accessible on Xbox — WickedSoldier991's original explanation on how to get the modes included both PC and Xbox, but PC Gamer was able to grab them on PC alone. The 14 modes include the aforementioned Attrition — a team deathmatch variant where each team shares a limited pool of respawns, and also includes a battle royale style "danger zone" — as well as a few Fiesta variants we haven't seen in a while yet. There's also an Attrition variant called Elimination that is basically just the default mode of Counter-Strike.

Tactical exclusion — Besides the reveal of Attrition, perhaps the biggest surprise here is a mode called Tactical Slayer, where players have no shields and no radar. If you're a longtime Halo fan, you surely know that this mode is usually known by a different name, SWAT, and it's one of the most popular rules variants in the series.

While it's unclear why 343 chose to hold back SWAT like this, some players have already lambasted the developer for turning one of Halo's most beloved game types into a limited-time mode similar to the seasonal events that you'll find in games like Apex Legends. (This is but one of the many complaints that fans have voiced for Infinite, though most of the ire has been focused at the game's progression curve.) Then again, we don't actually know that 343 plans to do this with Tactical Slayer — especially given that 343 recently announced that a SWAT playlist is coming to the game — but it won't come out before launch.

Grab 'em while you can — It's probably safe to assume that 343 never intended for fans to grab these unreleased modes in this way. As such, if you're interested in trying out Attrition for yourself, we recommend grabbing the playlists before 343 patches the hole, because they probably will, sooner than you think. Then again, you will almost certainly see these modes in the wild sooner than later.