Halo Infinite reaches its highest player count for the year following major season 5 update

Halo Infinite is in the middle of a second wind following its season five update. Scores of players have flocked back to the title, with Infinite’s Steam numbers continuing to climb as time goes on.

343 Industries flagship FPS has seen more than double its usual player count since the Oct. 17 season five release. Over 18,000 concurrent players have made their way onto Halo Infinite servers to test out all the new features included in its latest update in the past day alone, according to SteamDB.

While this turnaround is to be celebrated, Halo Infinite’s recent player surge is miles away from its peak when it was released in 2021. Infinite still has a ways to go before reaching its 272,586-player peak glory days.

These numbers only reflect the Halo Infinite PC player base, which likely leaves out a massive chunk of console gamers sporting Xbox controllers.

Players seem to be returning thanks to a collection of changes alongside the newest season. Additions like the AI toolkit for Halo Infinite’s Forge game mode provide a new experience that gamers are welcoming with open arms. 

Halo Infinite players called Forge’s changes the “dawn of a new era” for the franchise, praising the sheer amount of customization available since the update. Players can now use a variety of scripting options to set up massive battles among AI combatants, and it seems from comments on social media the community is loving it.

This massive change paired with quality-of-life updates, battle pass tweaks, dozens of new Flood-based skins, and game modes has jaded Halo Infinite gamers picking up their controllers once again.

This is still early days for Halo Infinite’s season five launch. Whether it can continue an upward trajectory will be revealed as time goes on, but for now, it’s a promising start.