Halo Infinite’s latest multiplayer technical preview (or, in actual terms, beta) is live, and has been for a few days now. And while the beta offers only a small taste of what will be available in the online shooter once it releases later this year, dataminers and curious fans have been digging into the game’s files and have found quite a bit. One unexpected discovery: Halo Infinite is filled with memes.
Redditor marcopolo444 shared a bunch of links to images and content that have been directly ripped out of the ongoing Xbox and PC beta tests. Some of this stuff is cool, but not exactly surprising. For example, dataminers found some vehicles that aren’t currently available in the tech preview, including visually revamped versions of the high-flying Banshee and the classic Scorpion tank. Also found buried in the files were a ton of emblems, a staple of Halo games from the past. But notably, quite a few of these emblems (along with some weapon ornaments) appear to be directly inspired by internet memes. For some reason.
There’s an alien grunt with a bowler hat and big, happy eyes sitting in a fire which appears to be a direct reference to the famous “This is fine” cartoon. I also spotted a recreation of the ancient internet meme featuring that guy who talked about aliens all the time on the History Channel, and a version of the classic “the classic Brent Rambo” gif. Also, a cartoon recreation of the infamous Rock-with-a-fanny-pack image. And a weapon charm that appears to directly quote a 4chan post that became a semi-popular meme.
Now, to be fair to Halo and 343, the leaked files also contain plenty of non-meme-related content and imagery. But boy howdy, there’s a lot more memes in here than I expected. I’m not immediately against memes popping up in games; after all, they’re a part of pop culture and the way we communicate with each other online. However, something about these images feels very forced and out of place. Halo is allowed to be wacky, but this feels a bit sad.
On the flip side, I’m into a lot of the armor and vehicle attachments that folks have uncovered in the beta files, including what appears to be unlockable Christmas-related gear to make your Spartans look more festive.
Something to keep in mind when looking at all the datamined content is that some of this could be changed or removed before the game releases. Just because these files were found in the most recent beta doesn’t mean they are guaranteed to hang around. And of course, it’s likely that 343 will add more to Halo between now and the game’s launch in December.
There have been some silly bugs and server issues, not to mention delays, but so far (even in this early, unfinished state), Halo Infinite appears to be in good shape. Now we wait to see if 343 and Halo can stick the landing on December 8 when it arrives on Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and PC.