Halo Infinite is getting a third-person mode next month

File this under “news no one expected.” 343 Industries has confirmed that Halo Infinite is getting a third-person mode, and it’s coming sooner than you think, with a release date penned in for November.

Halo historians will know that Combat Evolved was a third-person shooter at one point in its development. Now, well over two decades later, that idea is set to become a reality in Halo Infinite.

Halo Infinite third-person mode confirmed

343 Industries confirmed the addition of third-person mode to Halo Infinite in a video on Twitter. It’s an announcement that wouldn’t feel out of place on April Fools’ Day. Halo? Third-person?! I assure you, it’s real, and frankly, it looks like a lot of fun.

The clips from the gameplay were marked as a work in progress, but a couple of interesting tidbits can be garnered from what has been shown so far.

One moment shows the player transitioning from first to third-person, indicating that you’re not locked into one view for the entire match. It remains to be seen if the new third-person view is only available in specific modes. PvE combat was also shown, confirming Firefight will be getting the third-person treatment. Count me in.

Interestingly, the footage features one moment involving the player struggling to see while entering a Shroud Screen. This shows the drawback of adding third-person to a game not initially designed for it, so it’ll be interesting to see how 343 Industries handles things like this in the full release.

Even if third-person mode doesn’t become the de-facto way to play Halo Infinite going forward, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t intrigued to try it out. It’s currently set for a November release, with no specific date nailed down at the moment.