Microsoft announces new multiplayer details for ‘Halo 5: Guardians’

"Halo 5: Guardians" developer 343 Industries and Microsoft have introduced a new ban policy for the multiplayer aspect of the game. This is alongside the reveal of a new medal system and skill ranking mechanism for the multiplayer title.

According to the developer, the new rules were put in place to maintain quality in the game's arena. In a new blog post via the official Halo website, 343 Industries revealed that it has engineered "Halo 5: Guardians" to track common multiplayer violations.

These include quitting matches, betrayals or team killing, staying idle during a multiplayer session, intentionally committing in-game suicides and excessive disconnects. If a player is found to practice any of the listed activities, a ban will be issued with blocking access to matchmaking.

343 Industries appears to be invested in monitoring the negative behaviours that players can display in "Halo 5: Guardians." Bans can be implemented for players who are often engage in these activities, with the duration of the ban being dependent on the kind of offense. There is also a form of progression in the ban, in that severity is affected by the frequency of committing the activity, the developer revealed in the official blog page.

There is also a new set of rules when it comes to joining matches and being matched with other players. For "Halo 5: Guardians," players will now only be able to join Warzone matches, which can last 30 minutes or longer, GameSpot reported.

Competitive Skill Ranking has also been introduced in the form of seven ranks, which include Bronze, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Onyx and Champion. Winning matches is the only way that players can advance to the next rank.

Completing tasks in the multiplayer will also yield players with rewards via commendations. The reward system remains the same as the previous “Halo: Reach.” However, a five-tier system has been added to it. Some of the commendations available after the game launch include Scorpion Gunner (Kill enemy spartans with a Scorpion), Assistant (Earn any Assist medal in Warzone), and Carbine (Kill an enemy Spartan with a Carbine). 343 Industries also plans to introduce more commendations in the future.

Medals in the game will exist for three reasons which include rewarding objective gameplay, earning REQ points and highlighting incredible feats. Every medal earned in the game’s Warzone mode will increase the player’s level and unlock more powerful REQs. 343 Industries has tried to preserve the classic feel of the legacy medals while giving them a fresh look, too.

"No matter what your skill level, Arena is the place to be if you are looking for old or new school multiplayer competition on Xbox," said 343 Industries in the official site. "With our new CSR System, finely tuned matchmaking, fair starts, and a banhammer stricter than a MLB World Series Umpire - we are incredibly excited to offer a live eSport for all owners of 'Halo 5' to participate in."

“Halo 5: Guardians” is scheduled to released on Oct. 27, exclusively for the Xbox One. The game is also available for pre-loading on the Xbox One. Preloading works for both the Standard Edition of the game that comes at $60 and the Digital Deluxe Edition that comes at $90.