Halo Infinite’s upcoming Spring Update will add its first new power weapon since launch, and it’s one that will be familiar, yet different, to longtime Halo fans–the Fuel Rod SPNKr.
It’s not exactly the Fuel Rod Cannon first introduced as a usable weapon in Halo 2, but rather a UNSC SPNKr rocket launcher that has been heavily modified by Halo Infinite’s enemy faction, the Banished, to fire fuel rods.
While the weapon shares many similarities with the franchise’s classic Fuel Rod Cannon–like a large magazine and massive green bolts of exploding plasma–it does behave a little differently. Most notably, the Fuel Rod SPNKr’s plasma bolts don’t bounce off targets, acting more like Halo’s traditional rocket launcher.
Developer Halo Studios (formerly 343 Industries) is currently on a roll when it comes to adding new weapons to Halo Infinite. The game’s first new weapon, the Bandit DMR, came three years after launch. However, Halo Studios added a new SMG, the MA5K Avenger, late last year and is now adding the Fuel Rod SPNKr just a few months later. In a blog post outlining all the other new additions coming as part of Halo Infinite’s 2025 Spring Update on February 4, the developer confirmed it’s working on another new weapon in the form of a Banished-themed shotgun. That weapon is slated to arrive as part of Halo Infinite’s Summer Update.
The Fuel Rod SPNKr may be the star attraction of the Spring Update, but Halo Studios is also bringing back a classic Halo 2 game mode in the form of the bomb-planting Assault. Other additions coming with the update include a remake of the Halo 5 map Coliseum alongside weapon balance changes. The update will additionally overhaul the game’s premium Operations Pass, adding more armor set to earn for those who decide to purchase it while making it so armor sets from old passes will be obtainable on The Exchange (Halo Infinite’s in-game currency cosmetic shop) the season after they debut.
Halo Studios is currently working on multiple new Halo projects, though the developer has not revealed what those projects are. The studio recently shifted to using Unreal Engine 5 to build future games in the series, in the process revealing Project Foundry, a prototype using Unreal Engine meant as a training tool that also shows what the future of Halo may look like. In a blog post announcing the shift (and the studio’s new name), it was said the studio rebrand and move to Unreal was the start of a new chapter for the franchise. Given the move to Unreal is still early, a new game in the series was said to not be “imminent.”
Rumors continue to circulate that older Halo games once exclusive to Xbox, as well as a rumored Halo: Combat Evolved remake, may release on PlayStation 5 in the wake of Microsoft’s new multi-platform game release strategy. However, no official announcements have been made.