Xbox will make much more money off the new Xbox Live and Gamepass subs that will inevitably be purchased by having Halo for free. And having a larger player base to sell more stuff to later on will make them more money. They don’t need to sell the multiplayer or have microtransactions anymore. The good publicity and higher player count is enough for them.

Truth is Microsoft can afford to lose money on Halo Infinite on the front end, a lot of companies can but they choose not to. Share holders want to see their profit increase during the first quarter of a new release (when interest is generally at it's highest) so they get maximum return on investment. Companies slam all the different preorder bonuses and collectors editions to ensure this happens often at the expense of you and I, the consumers. That said Halo is not the brand it used to be. If I were to guess 343i are making nice upfront to rehab it's image to earn goodwill from the players, and if all goes well gain the intrigue of a larger protentional player base through good reviews or influencers jumping on board. Then if the game takes off, they will probably add microtransactions over time. It could be that 343i are being completely on the up and up and won't add any microtransactions to the game. Call me a cynic (and I obviously am) I just don't see any AAA game not having some kind of intrusive post release monetisation ever again. TL;DR: The game won't have microtransactions until it does.

I wouldn’t say they are being “too generous” I mean, when compared to Apex, Destiny, PUBG, Fortnite, etc. Halo Infinite is WAY more consumer friendly then then those other Games. Respawn literally charges $50 bucks FOR FÙCKING BLUE!! ARE YAH OUTTA YO MIND!!!! (Sorry, I had to do my Angry Joe Impression out lol) If 343i keeps full Armor Sets that aren’t in the Battle Pass to $10 bucks and not $20 bucks per Armor Set, and only charge 2-5 bucks for Weapon Skins, Emotes, etc. then 343i would be in a way better position competition wise that the other Devs like Respawn will come down in price for their cosmetics that Apex will be better for it. Cause it’s common knowledge that the cheaper things are, the more people are going to buy and the more people buy, the more money Devs and Shareholders make etc. but we’ll see what they do when Infinite releases.

The season passes cost money, so that how they get their money

[quote]with season passes never expiring to not a single item being sold to players[/quote] The season passes cost money and, surprisingly enough, include things. [quote]The multiplayer overview video didn’t go too far into detail about how much all of this customization would cost, but the developers at 343 did mention that the game would feature a battle pass system as well as a storefront.[/quote] https://www.polygon.com/22533332/halo-infinite-free-to-play-multiplayer-microtransactions-armor-customization-battle-pass

Some cosmetics and part of the season rewards system have already been stated to be paid content.

Best guess is that they'll add stuff you can pay for later down the line. Perhaps progress skips, cosmetics and consumables. If the campaign is behind a paywall they could make up for costs there along with gamepass which gives them access to as many platforms as the folders allow.