Halo Infinite multiplayer does not let you “filter out” the maps and game modes before you can find a match. If you’re playing on PC, there is a simple way to select the map or game mode that you want to load in to, before the match begins—and you get to avoid the time-out penalty for leaving a match.

Step 1: Choose a playlist

Halo Infinite currently has four game modes: Bot Bootcamp, Quickplay, Big Team Battle, and Ranked Arena. Each mode contains a playlist containing one more—but not all—of these game modes:

• Capture the Flag (CTF)
• Oddball
• Slayer
• Stockpile
• Strongholds
• Total Control

For example, you want to complete active Challenge that requires you to kill players who are holding your team’s flag. That means you should select the Quick Play playlist so you can find a CTF match.

After selecting a playlist, wait until the 3-second countdown ends to make sure that you are placed in a matchmaking queue.

Step 2: Press TAB to bring up the Fireteam menu

Open the Fireteam menu by pressing the TAB key.

Step 3: Hover the cursor over your name

Keep an eye for the “Connecting to server” status at once the bar at the bottom of your screen. Once you see it, hover the cursor over your player name—in the image above, it your cursor must be on the bar that says “In Multiplayer – Quick Play“. A new tab called Fireteam Details will pop-up, and here you will find the map and the game mode that is currently loading.

Let the game finish loading if it is the correct map or game mode that you are searching for. Otherwise, proceed to the next step.

Step 4: Wait until the match starts loading

Watch the bar at the bottom of the screen until it changes to loading and displays the % progress. Stay alert, because you must do the next step before the map finishes loading or else the game will start—and if you leave during a match, you might get a penalty.

Step 5: Press the F key once

Press the ‘F’ key—not to pay respects—to stop the match from loading. If you do this correctly, a notification saying “Matchmaking cancelled” pops up on the top-right corner of the screen.

Take note, you should only press the F key once. Tapping it multiple times will cause a “Can’t join Fireteam” message that will continue in a loop. If this happens, press TAB to go back to the Fireteam menu and press the ‘F’ key again. In case the pop-up message persists, or you get stuck in loading, just close and re-launch the game.

Additional Notes

• Wait until the “Matchmaking cancelled” message in top-right corner is gone—it takes around 5 seconds—before queuing again. Why? Because if you immediately re-queue, you will get stuck in the loading screen indefinitely.
• Using this method to cancelling the matchmaking process does not give you the time-out penalty for leaving games. It’s probably because the system only considers you “leaving a game” if you have completely loaded into a match.

There you go! This simple method can help you avoid loading into the game mode and maps that you do not want to play on. Let us hope that in the future, 343 Industries will make it an in-game option for players to tick off the maps and game mode that they don’t like.

Video Guide

Here is a short video that covers everything from Steps 1 to 5 of this guide.

Use this match cancelling method whenever you want to complete a Challenge that has specific requirements—like when you want to play on maps where certain weapons or vehicles are guaranteed to spawn. Now you can finally avoid Oddball matches when you’re not in the mood for them!

Looking for more Halo Infinite guides? Check out these articles on how to select a server region or how to run the game on legacy AMD Radeon graphics cards.

Halo Infinite was developed by 343 Industries. The free-to-play multiplayer mode entered beta access on November 15th this year until the Campaign mode was released on December 7th. The game comes with a free battle pass and is currently in its first season, Heroes of Reach.

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