Halo is officially getting a third-person view for the first time in its 20-year history

In brief: In a major surprise sure to excite, 343 Industries just confirmed that Halo Infinite is finally getting a full third-person camera mode this November. While there already is a third-person view when hauling the bulkier weapon models, players will soon be able to hop around the whole game while rocking something as agile as a Needler.

During a Forge panel at the 2024 Halo World Championship, developer 343 Industries announced that Halo Infinite will be receiving a proper third-person camera mode in November. They showed off some footage on X/Twitter, giving us a glimpse of Spartans battling in the new view.

It's a big development. After all, this is the very first time an official Halo game has offered third-person gameplay (besides the limited view) since the release of Halo: Combat Evolved way back in 2001.

Halo community manager John Junyszek and developer Colin Cove from Skybox Labs revealed some extra details at the panel, saying they'll start with a dedicated third-person Firefight mode, but the option will also be available in PvP and through the Forge mode editing tools.

There's no word yet on whether the campaign will get the third-person treatment or if it'll be multiplayer only. However, the devs made it clear it'll work at the mode level. We wish there was a more detailed post explaining the scope of the mode, but the video did appear to show the view toggling seamlessly between first and third person.

That said, while the addition would be new as an official release, third-person modes have been a popular part of the modding scene for years. The tighter first-person combat camera is iconic, but having the freedom to view your character model and surroundings could open up fresh gameplay experiences.

At the same time, Fortnite is heading in the opposite direction by testing out a first-person camera mode. Epic Games just added a new "experimental" feature in their new Unreal Editor for Fortnite, letting creators build true first-person gameplay experiences inside the battle royale world.

In their post, Epic says this first-person cam is perfect for building "popular genres like first-person, team-based or tactical shooter games." But they also mention using it for extra immersion in horror or adventure modes, too. Of course, this being still in testing, any first-person Fortnite creations can't go public just yet.