A few days ago, 343 Industries announced that Halo Infinite will be replacing the primary/secondary armor color picker with a Destiny-like customization system called Coatings. The Halo Infinite coating system instantly sparked a debate among the fanbase. Today, community manager John Junyszek takes it to Twitter to defend their decision. In his first tweet, Junyszek said that there are “all kinds of customization items” that can be earned through gameplay alone.
‘Coatings (and therefore colors) can only be purchased?! >:(‘ No, that is not the case. There will be all kinds customization items (including coatings) that can be earned in-game and earned as special rewards. Will there be purchases? Sure. Is that the only way? Absolutely not.
And then he said that a hybrid system is impossible because it’s all built-in in the Halo Infinite coating system.
‘Why not a hybrid system where I can change my colors and the rest of the coating remains the same?’ We love this idea, but colors and materials are designed and built into each specific coating. I’m hoping to elaborate on the tech behind coatings in a future Community Update.
And lastly, Halo Infinite coatings will provide a good variety of combinations.
‘Will there be a good variety of coatings?’ Yes. Although moving away from the old color system was a tough call, it has allowed us to go into greater detail and variation with Armor color, materials, patterns, etc. You are going to look great in Halo Infinite.
Halo Infinite armor coatings confirmed $5 eachy
Bro get on these cookies only $2 you save $3 on purple ✅ pic.twitter.com/GmA5Yv0aha— Sean W (@seanwcyborg) October 27, 2020
Personally, I found his answers to be… pointless? It’s obvious that not all of Halo Infinite coating will be locked behind a paywall. And I know there won’t be just 12 color combinations. The main issue is that selecting our own armor color, a feature that’s been around since Combat Evolved, is no longer an option. Just to use the color combination we want or even always use since Halo 2 days, we will have to either:
- Unlock it first. Which could come from an easy challenge like headshot 10 players in PVP or maybe something ludicrous like being one of the Top 5 players in the global Slayer leaderboards.
- Wait until 343 release it.
- Shell out some real cash for it. The purple Monarch coating will be “valued” at $5, according to Halo YouTuber @seanwcyborg’s tweet above. At least it’s no longer a Mondelez promotion exclusive, right?
- No such combination could ever exist. I know that feeling all too well since I had a really hard time mixing-and-matching my Destiny 2 shaders.
And Junyszek has confirmed that “colors are built into each specific coating”. Which means there’s no way they somehow bring back the simple primary/secondary color option. Still, what is your personal stance on this debacle? Let me know in the comments below.
