Next Halo Infinite playtest is open across two weekends offering Arena and BTB

343 Industries is readying the next round of technical tests for Halo Infinite, and this time, it will open an early build of the game across two weekends. Halo Insiders on Xbox and PC will be able to join these expanded sessions on September 23 through 26 as well as September 30 through October 3 for full player versus player multiplayer action.

Other than hunting for bugs, the studio is looking to stress its online services with these mass sessions, so the invite pool this time is massive. The available content won't be the same across the two weekends either, with the first focusing on 4v4 Arena while the second will roll out the newly expanded 12vs12 Big Team Battle (BTB) to the mix.

To further stress the servers, matchmaking will only be open across 10am - 2pm PT and 5pm - 9pm PT. Here's the full schedule:

WEEKEND 1 (ARENA)

• Thursday evening, September 23:
  • Build becomes available for download Thursday night
  • Training Mode and Weapon Drills are available
• Friday, September 24 @ 10am-2pm & 5pm-9pm PT: Matchmaking available
• Saturday, September 25 @ 10am-2pm & 5pm-9pm PT: Matchmaking available
• Sunday, September 26 @ 10am-2pm & 5pm-9pm PT: Matchmaking available
• Monday, September 27 @ 10am PT: Flight access closes until Weekend 2

WEEKEND 2 (BIG TEAM BATTLE & ARENA)

• Thursday evening, September 30:
  • Flight access turns on
  • Training Mode and Weapon Drills become available
• Friday, October 1 @ 10am-2pm & 5pm-9pm PT: Matchmaking available
• Saturday, October 2 @ 10am-2pm & 5pm-9pm PT: Matchmaking available
• Sunday, October 3 @ 10am-2pm & 5pm-9pm PT: Matchmaking available
• Sunday, October 3 @ 9pm PT: Surveys go out to a portion of Halo Insiders
• Monday, October 4 @ 10am PT: Flight access closes
• Wednesday, October 6 @ 10am PT: Halo Support site closes

The rest of the flight's content— Training Mode, Weapon Drills, Battle Pass, and Customization — will remain operational even when the matchmaking for multiplayer is down between sessions.

Without waiting till the last minute, confirmation emails are already being sent out to eligible Insiders, a process that can take up to two days to roll out completely. This technical test involves everyone who meets the build's internal minimum specifications and completed the sign-up process correctly as a Halo Insider before September 13. However, for those who missed out, Insider signups are still open for a chance to join the second weekend.