A Halo Infinite Developer Clarifies Teabagging Ban Claims
In a tweet over the weekend, Twitch streamer Aztecross alleged that “the boys and I just got banned on Halo Infinite for bagging.” That suggestion prompted certain members of the community to reach out to long-time Halo senior community manager John Junyszek. Unfortunately for the streamer, the dev was having none of it.
Yeah, that’s not a thing. A 30 min timeout is automated and only happens after quitting multiple games in a short amount of time. It’s always prefaced by a 10 min timeout too, so that means there was likely a lot of quitting leading up to it. Players can always reach out to…August 25, 2024
“Yeah, that’s not a thing,” Junyszek responds, clarifying that the length of ban the group received – a 30-minute timeout – is something that “only happens after quitting multiple games in a short amount of time.” To make Aztecross’ claim even more unlikely, the dev says that you can only get a 30-minute matchmaking ban if you’re already given – and waited through – a 10-minute timeout beforehand, “so that means there was likely a lot of quitting leading up to it.”
This feels like a case of having all the receipts, but Aztecross was adamant that no one quit. They claim that four players were playing splitscreen on a (suffering) Xbox Series S, “and we didn’t get a ban until after one of the games someone bagged and we bagged back. I bagged again in the second game to test and got an even longer timeout.”
A point in Aztecross’ favor is that his timeout was for “unsporting play,” which Junyszek acknowledged could have been for a number of other offences, like betrayals or AFK detection. “Those are less likely to occur,” he acknowledges, “but could pop if you’re horsing around with friends in splitscreen.”
The exact reason for the two timeouts remains a mystery, but it’s interesting to see Halo’s community manager set the record straight – you’re not getting a ban for bagging, uncouth as it might be.
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