Video Showing Extreme Halo Infinite Aim Assist May Be Due to a Bug

As crossplay has become more prevalent in the industry, allowing console gamers to play with PC gamers, some new issues have cropped up. One of the hottest debates is about aim assist for console players, which some have deemed a necessary feature to put console gamers on even-footing with their PC counterparts. Others, meanwhile, have criticized aim assist as actually giving controller players an unfair advantage compared to those with a mouse and keyboard setup. The latest game to stir the pot in the controller aim assist debate is Halo Infinite, which is in the midst of its latest technical preview test.

A viral clip from Twitch streamer Sheney appears to show rather extreme aim assist in Halo Infinite. The streamer had walked away from the game for a moment, but the on-screen cursor continues to move, aiming at enemies in the distance and seemingly following their movements. While it's possible that this is indeed due to extreme aim assist in Halo Infinite, a popular Halo YouTuber chimed in with a different explanation.

Mint Blitz responded to the clip, explaining that the extreme aim assist was due to a combination of controller stick drift and KBM both being active at the sime time, with deadzones turned to zero. With both being active, this supposedly creates a "high aim assist value," but only when Halo Infinite players are standing still. Evidently, the extreme aim assist will go away once players start moving. Mint Blitz added that it boils down to a bug that 343 plans to fix ahead of the game's launch in December.

This is due to controller stick drift and KBM both being active at the same time with deadzones turned to zero.

Since both are active it leads to a high aim assist value that goes away once you start moving again.

It’s a bug that will get fixed before launch.
— Mint Blitz (@MintBlitz) September 24, 2021

Discovering issues like this is part of the reason why a technical preview or beta test would be run in the first place. No one should be participating in these Halo Infinite multiplayer previews expecting a perfect experience, as that's not really the point. Assuming Mint Blitz's information is correct, it seems that those worried about Halo Infinite having extreme aim assist can rest easy, though there will still certainly be aim assist in the game to some degree.

While there is some controversy about aim assist in Halo Infinite, the game otherwise seems to have been well-received by fans. Reactions to the Halo Infinite multiplayer has been largely positive so far, and it will be interesting to see if it's able to capitalize on that momentum come launch. Halo Infinite will be missing fan favorite features at launch, like co-op for the campaign and Forge mode, but if the multiplayer experience is strong enough, fans may be able to overlook the missing content.

Halo Infinite will be a live service game with seasonal content, so it should only become more content-rich as time goes on. 343 will also be able to react to fan feedback to the Halo Infinite experience and continue adjusting things after launch, just as it's taking feedback into account with these multiplayer preview tests.

Halo Infinite launches December 8 for PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.