Halo 4 beta test extended to November 6, now includes crossplay for Halo: Reach

Halo 4
(Image credit: Microsoft)

The Halo 4 closed beta test—"flight," in Halo parlance—that got underway last week has been extended to November 6, and updated with a range of fixes and tweaks, as well as crossplay support for Firefight and multiplayer in Halo: Reach.

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"Our flight patch brings some additional goals for this flight! Along with Crossplay and Advanced Graphics Options for PC, our Reach content features newly updated interpolation work to bring the title closer to our recent releases," developer 343 Industries said on Reddit. "We’ve also implemented some fixes for the existing Halo 4 Flight content, additional information on these fixes can be found on our Halo 4 Known Issues page."

The new test build includes:

  • Unlimited framerate improvements for Halo: Reach
  • Crossplay has been enabled for Halo: Reach's multiplayer and Firefight modes
  • Per-Title Control and Video Settings for Halo: Reach
  • Player Emblems now appear in Halo: Reach gameplay

The current round of testing is open to all members of the Halo Insider program, which you can sign up for here. If you're already in the flight, you can submit tickets for any problems you run into here. A list of resolved issues from the previous test build is below.

  • The Field of View (FoV) option has been removed from Xbox One consoles, please refer to our latest MCC Development & Flighting Update for additional information regarding this feature on Xbox One
  • The option to enable or disable V-Sync is no longer present on Xbox One consoles
  • The Preferred Input Device prompt no longer appears upon first launch on Xbox One consoles 
  • Players on Xbox One consoles will now always default to gamepad as the Preferred Input Device regardless of whether or not they have set mouse and keyboard as the preferred device on PC
  • The Blood Effects option has been removed from the Graphics Quality settings
  • The region names in the Network tab of the Settings menu are now capitalized correctly 
  • Updated the preview image for the Preferred Input Device option
  • When playing co-op on PC, changing graphics settings in the Video tab of the Settings menu no longer causes the settings to be grayed out upon returning to the Video tab 
  • The Locked and Unlocked icons on the Competitive Games menu are no longer placeholder images
  • Updated the input device icon in the Roster and Loading Screen
  • Input device icons now appear next to all party members
  • The correct playlist names are now always displayed when entering the Competitive Games menu
  • Heads-Up Display (HUD) elements no longer ‘lag behind’ camera movements 
  • Accessing a Terminal in Campaign will now play the video in-game on Xbox One consoles
  • When playing the Campaign mission “Midnight” on PC, the Broadsword no longer stutters when flying 
  • The positions and/or movements of players is now accurately represented in SITREC Replays (AKA “killcams”)
  • Various User Interface (UI) elements and Announcer voice lines have been corrected on the multiplayer map "Pitfall"
  • Camera movements and some moving objects, such as Pelicans, no longer stutter in Spartan Ops cinematics
  • When the Field of View (FOV) option is set to 78 or higher, grabbing an object in Forge's Edit mode no longer causes the camera to zoom in
Andy Chalk

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.