After many years without the beloved game type, Grifball is finally debuting in Halo Infinite. Microsoft has announced that an official version of the 4 vs. 4 football-like game is launching on June 10, marking the end of a long drought.
Microsoft announced Grifball’s triumphant return in a video posted on X, which you can see embedded below. In an homage to Grifball’s roots as a creation of Rooster Teeth and to Machinima culture more broadly, the video features an in-game conversation between two Halo characters (replete with the trademark head-nods that indicate the current speaker).
This teaser is currently all we know about the Halo Infinite incarnation of Grifball, which is described as a “new era.” The fan community has frequently requested an official version of the match type, but to no avail. While developer Halo Studios has not specified exactly why it’s taken this long, community speculation suggests that certain differences in Halo Infinite from past games, such as the mechanics of the Gravity Hammer, have caused challenges to Grifball implementation. As such, Grifball has remained playable in recent years only in The Master Chief Collection.
While things have been quiet on the Halo front lately, the developer has continued updating Halo Infinite with new content and game modes. Earlier this year, for instance, the beloved co-op mode Firefight Classic was added to Infinite; last month, the game got a particularly absurd gun called the Mutilator.
It’s still probably too early to get any announcements about upcoming Halo games–don’t hold your breath for Halo reveals at the Xbox showcase at Summer Games Fest–but Halo Studies is working on new titles. Late last year, Halo Studios provided an overview for its long-term roadmap, sharing that several new Halo entries are in the works, and they’ll all use Unreal Engine 5.
