Halo Infinite is already removing its new Last Spartan Standing game mode

What you need to know

• 343 Industries will remove the Last Spartan Standing mode from Halo Infinite matchmaking on August 23.
• The mode will be replaced by Team Doubles and Ranked Doubles, a pair of 2v2 playlists.
• In-game, Halo Infinite estimates that Last Spartan Standing matchmaking takes three times longer to find games compared to other playlists, suggesting the mode hasn’t been popular. This may be why it is being rotated.

Recently, Halo Infinite developer 343 Industries announced in a blog post that Last Spartan Standing, a battle royale-style mode released earlier in Season 2, will be removed from the game’s matchmaking options on August 23 to “make room ” for new playlists. From 11 a.m. PT / 1 p.m. ET that day, players will not be able to play Last Spartan Standing. The 2v2 Team Doubles and Ranked Doubles playlists will then go live three hours later at 1:00 PM PT / 4:00 PM ET.

Last Spartan Standing is considered the main game mode of Halo Infinite Season 2, as it was the centerpiece of two of the main events and has been available since the season started on May 3. The developers even made it playable on all Big Team Battle maps in an update, which many players took as a sign that it would stick around. However, we now know that is not the case.

Since the announcement, fans have wondered why the developers chose to replace Last Spartan Standing with the 2v2 modes rather than keep it available alongside the new additions. If we had to guess, we’d say it’s probably due to a declining number of players. At the time of writing, Halo Infinite estimates that you have to wait 15-30 seconds to find a match in most playlists. If you want to play Last Spartan Standing, you have to wait a minute and a half before you can start a game. This suggests that the mode is not as popular as Halo Infinite’s other offerings.

Ultimately, it’s understandable that the developers would spin Last Spartan Standing out of matchmaking in response to declining performance, though it’s still a shame that Season 2’s biggest mode won’t even remain available for its full runtime. One of the biggest criticisms fans have of Halo Infinite is that it doesn’t offer enough variety in content, so it’s a shame to see an existing mode being removed when a new one arrives.