Thoughts on Bot Matches in Halo?

Games Halo Infinite
1

In the first flight for Infinite, bot Matches have been introduced for the first time in a Halo game outside of the Warzone game mode (Halo Wars excluded). Other games have done this in multiplayer ( i.e. Battlefront 2), but I’m not sure how this would work permanently into Halo. Maybe exclusively in BTB? I mainly play 4v4 and 6v6, so I would like to hear other players opinions.

2

Big Team Battle should be OK with the introduction of bots for me. I believe in bigger battles, they would not stick out so much as they would in more intimate fights like 4v4. With that said, only BTB is where AI combatants should stay if they are to be implemented outside of the Academy.

3

I am extremely excited and hopeful for the feature, for multiple reasons.

  1. I think this will be great to assist in the onboarding process to get into Halo. This is a new game, and is a new start for everyone. But this will be the first Halo for a lot of people, and they’ll be going up against 20 year vets. Matchmaking isn’t always perfect, and playing against people with an extremely large skill gap can be discouraging. I am fearful that some players will go up against these impossible odds and want to quit the game. What Halo needs ultimately to be successful is players, and every player lost is a huge blow. Hopefully Bots allow players to get their feet wet, as well as continue to practice/relax going forward. It is a game after all.

  2. I have played every Halo game online, and I have seen what the game is like online at launch vs the end of a game’s lifecycle when most of player base have moved onto other games. Bots opens up a new opportunity to ensure there are always “people” online to play with. I don’t think Halo Infinite’s population will ever be a problem given that is a free-to-play game and available on console and PC, however that doesn’t change that this safety net will always be in place to ensure that people can always play some sort of matchmaking online. This is assuming that Bot Arena carries over to the full game, which I certainly hope it does.

I see absolutely no downsides to having Bots in the game.

Now if we’re talking about having Bots to backfill people that quit? That’s a different discussion to have to highlight the pros and cons, but overall having Bots in Halo as an option is a big win.