More than a week into the open-beta, Halo Infinite is already facing a hacker pandemic

Halo Infinite is the latest installment in the long-running first-person shooter franchise. Although the game was deemed to be a flagship launch alongside the new Xbox series X|S, the game was delayed by nearly a year. The delay paid off, as the game was touted for being a perfect Halo entry in reviews.

Halo Infinite's multiplayer mode is free-to-play, and that has been a major welcome move for the community. But just a week into its release, the mode finds itself already infested by a hacker pandemic. They have found ways to cheat the system and players are already complaining about the dire conditions.

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Halo Infinite's Anti-Cheat system

Back in October 2021, 343 Industries stated that they are introducing a non-evasive anti-cheat for their game, Halo Infinite. They further stated that they would not be including any complex DRM that would inhibit the players' experience.

In a video released on Youtube, Michael Vankuipers, 343's Principle Software Engineer, stated that:

“We made a commitment early on that we don’t want to have any complex DRM or anything that’s gonna inhibit a players’ ability to play the way they want to play. We want to respect players’ privacy, especially legitimate players’ privacy. We’re going to continue to evolve it into whatever is necessary and whatever our players need to have a fair experience.”

With the current situation, it is likely that the developers would realize the limitations of their anti-cheat.

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Hacking in Halo Infinite

As the free multiplayer beta crosses the one-week mark, reports from players complaining about hacks and cheats have only increased with time. The problem has become so big that players are now calling for cross-play to be turned off, since it is much easier to hack on PC.

Complaints from the community have focused on the use of aimbots and ESPs that are ruining the experience of others massively.

It is clear that the anti-cheat introduced by 343 is not as potent as they would have liked to believe.

One of the hackers also came up during the gameplay of the popular Twitch streamer Douglas "DougisRaw" Wolf. The clip shows the player using aimbots and wallhacks.

The problem of hackers ruining the game for everyone has persisted and invaded a number of big titles in recent times, like Call of Duty: Vanguard and Battlefield 2042.

It remains to be seen if 343 Industries can get a grip on their anti-cheat system, while avoiding resorting to a complex DRM system as they had promised before.

Halo Infinite officially releases on 8th December, 2021.