Not a fan of ranked multiplayer in the newest Halo? You’re not alone. Have no fear, though: Halo 5: Guardians is set to gain additional social playlists for non-ranked play.
Players of a casual nature are finding that the Arena playlists are ranked only; for those who have no need for leaderboards, this acts as a barrier of sorts. As with previous releases in the franchise, casual and ranked playlists have both played an important part in keeping the Halo multiplayer community alive.
Josh Holmes, head of 343 Industries, responded to a forum poster’s concern regarding the absence of casual play by stating, “There was no insidious motivation behind going all ranked for Arena. That was the design intent of the team working on that experience. That said, we’ve heard the requests and we are actively working towards supporting unranked playlists for Arena in a future update. It may seem straightforward on the surface but lighting up unranked play in Arena is not as simple as flipping a switch.”
Casual Spartan slams the ground in frustration
It looks as though players will have to remain patient before jumping into an unranked playlist.