Rank (Halo Infinite)

The ranking system in Halo Infinite is primarily focused on a player's per-playlist Competitive Skill Rank (CSR), and will feature a form of career rank in Season 04: Infection. The closest alternatives to the progression rank systems found in prior titles come in the form of Halo Infinite's Battle Pass system, wherein armor pieces can be unlocked via challenges.

Competitive Skill Ranks (CSR)
"CSR measures your ability against opponents of each skill level: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond and Onyx. Your rank improves when you perform better than expected. Play 10 matches in a ranked playlist to determine your starting CSR for the season."

- In-game description

Halo Infinite employs a competitive ranking system similar to that of the previous game, Halo 5: Guardians. Rank resets occur with every season's release, following in the footsteps of Halo 5: Guardians as well.

The ranks are divided into six categories, with the first five having six sub-tiers, as follows;
 * Bronze I-VI
 * Silver I-VI
 * Gold I-VI
 * Platinum I-VI
 * Diamond I-VI
 * Onyx

Placement matches
When searching for matches in ranked playlists, players must complete 10 matches to be given a placement in the initial ranking structure, and from there can move up or down depending on personal performance. With the February, 2023 update, this would be decreased to five placement games. The highest placement a player could originally achieve would be Diamond I and II. This would be increased to Diamond V, in an effort to keep higher skilled players out of lower skill brackets.

CSR (2021-2023)
With the release of Halo Infinite, ranking up through the game's CSR system was dependent on certain aspects of the game. A higher weighting towards the player's MMR (Matchmaking rank), an underlying system, was present. This, coupled with the predictive nature of the matching system would perform a few tasks. It would:
 * Match players together.
 * Matching players in an effort to ensure an even game could become a lessened priority if search times were too long.
 * Determine the likelihood of either side's chance of winning the game.
 * Tune the CSR payout and punishment per team and player, based on that likelihood.

This would mean that if a player was put on a team that was more likely to win the game based on the apparent match up of players (determined through their MMR, over their base CSR rank), the CSR payout would be lower overall, as the player on the winning side wouldn't be playing against a party of their level. It would tune their rank payouts to avoid lopsided games netting high gains. Additionally, if the player underperformed on a team that was likelier to win, their growth with CSR would also stagnate. Inversely, if someone was matched on the side likely to lose, a loss against said team in a lopsided game would not net a punishing loss of CSR, provided the player performed above the game's expectations for them. Additionally, while the game would dock CSR from the losing player by nature, upon their next win, provided their performance was consistent, their next CSR payout would be much higher on average to negate the effect of losing a streak of games, despite doing well.

A byproduct of Infinite utilizing a numerical MMR average per team was that players of a high rank would not be able to matchmake with one another, as their overall average would be too high to match another team with a comparable MMR average.

On top of the aforementioned MMR average, a fireteam CSR limit exists, having been implemented in the June drop pod for Season 02: Lone Wolves. As of Season 03, the limit has never been altered.

CSR (2023-onwards)
With the release of the February 28 update, Infinite's ranking system would be overhauled. An emphasis on CSR matchmaking was implemented, and MMR restrictions and tuning were loosened. This would result in a few notable changes:
 * MMR matchmaking used in the prior system would only be utilized for players in placement matches.
 * With emphasis placed on CSR, winning games became emphasized to personal performance.
 * Looser MMR matching resulted in the MMR average not being accounted for in a strict fashion. As a result, high-level players can queue together more reliably.

Career Rank
Career rank is a new system for Halo Infinite, introduced with Season 04: Infection. It functions similarly to the career ranks found in Halo: The Master Chief Collection. The icons for the ranks are similarly-based on the Master Chief Collection ranking scheme and that found in Halo: Reach, with the final rank "Hero" based on the Spartan emblem.

All players begin with a base rank of Recruit, and proceed to gain XP from player score in multiplayer, progressing through fifteen overall military ranks (themed after the UNSC rank structure) ranging from Cadet to General, with each rank featuring three small increments known as "Grades". For example, going through the rank of Bronze General involves working through Bronze General Grade 1, 2, and 3. Upon attaining the rank of General Grade 3 of any rank tier, their rank is reset back to Private, and the ranks change their grading from Bronze to Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, and Onyx sequentially. After finishing the rank of Onyx General Grade 3, the player attains the final rank; Hero.

Career ranks only track the progress of a player's playtime after the launch of Season 04 in June, 2023, and do not retroactively complete. They are fully-independent of all competitive rank and Battle Pass-related features, will not reset when seasons change as to ensure the lifetime records of the player are kept. Likewise, career ranks have no bearing on the game's matchmaking algorithm. However, the career tracks do have exclusive player cosmetic unlocks tied to them in the form of emblems and nameplates.

List of ranks

 * Recruit


 * Cadet
 * Private
 * Lance Corporal
 * Corporal
 * Sergeant
 * Staff Sergeant
 * Gunnery Sergeant
 * Master Sergeant
 * Lieutenant
 * Captain
 * Major
 * Lieutenant Colonel
 * Colonel
 * Brigadier General
 * General


 * Hero