Halo Infinite Reveals Huge Forge Mode Update Details

Highlights

• Halo Infinite’s upcoming update for Forge mode on January 30 brings new features and improvements, including access to the iconic purple colors of the Covenant, a Forge Mode Creator for easier map and mode combining, and material swaps between decals and foliage.
• The update expands the visual possibilities in Forge mode and refines the Forge AI toolkit, allowing creators to place NPCs in custom maps. These additions showcase 343 Industries’ commitment to continuously improving Halo Infinite post-launch.
• Despite a rocky launch, the game has made positive strides in winning over the community, and with the improvements in Forge mode and a promising future ahead, it is in a much better place now and has a bright outlook.

Halo Infinite has confirmed the details of a huge update coming to the game’s Forge mode on January 30. After a rocky launch back in 2021, Halo Infinite continues to make positive steps in winning over the game’s community.

Ever since it debuted in 2007’s Halo 3, Forge mode has been a staple of the franchise, allowing players to create their own maps using a robust editor. With each iteration from Bungie and 343 Industries, the complexity of the mode has increased, which only challenges the community further to show what is possible. Some of the maps even end up in matchmaking rotation, indicating the developer’s confidence in what can be achieved. Just recently, one player even recreated a classic Halo: Combat Evolved campaign level in Infinite‘s Forge, which shows how powerful the tools are right now. With this upcoming update, they’re about to get even better.

The full details of the upcoming updates to Forge mode were published via Halo Waypoint. Content Update 29 (CU29) arrives on January 30, bringing a host of changes that increase the power of the Forge tools. Creators haven’t been able to use the iconic purple colors of the series’ main antagonists, the Covenant, in Halo Infinite‘s Forge mode yet, but CU29 will see these options become available as the first big change. On top of this is a new feature called the Forge Mode Creator, which will make it easier for creators to combine custom maps and modes with the addition of new assets called Mode Brains and Mode Prefabs.

Halo Infinite Content Update 29 Forge Mode Details

• Covenant palette, featuring over 70 new structure pieces, primitives, accents, and decals
• Forge Mode Creator, making it easier to link community-made maps and modes
• Material swap between foliage and decals
• Further improvements to Forge AI toolkit and several quality-of-life improvements

In addition, players will now have access to material swaps between decals and foliage, allowing creators to substantially change the appearance of many of Forge mode’s more decorative pieces. This has the potential to completely change the visual possibilities in Forge, even in existing maps. To top it all off, CU29 is bringing further refinements to the Forge AI toolkit, which allows creators to place NPCs in their custom maps. The AI toolkit was a huge addition and a first out of every Halo game, changing what was possible in Forge, so it’s great to see it being improved further.

343 Industries’ post-launch commitment to Halo Infinite has been impressive. With many live-service games, a rocky launch can be a death knell for a game, or even an entire studio. Halo Infinite‘s launch wasn’t the best, with plenty of features missing that had become standard in previous titles. Forge mode itself arrived a year after the initial release, which was tough to take for players who had used the mode for 14 years prior. Now though, the game is in a much better place and likely has a positive future ahead of it.