Halo Infinite Game Pass “Requires Purchase” error, explained

You do not have to shell out.

photo of master chief in halo infinite

Image via 343 Industries

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With the Halo Infinite campaign officially out, there have been some reported issues about getting the game to run. If you can’t figure out how to install the campaign, we already have you covered. One specific issue users have reported is an error messaging stating that the game needs to be purchased to be played, which shouldn’t be the case for Xbox Game Pass subscribers. 

This error message is an issue on the back-end, not reflecting your ability to play the campaign as an active Game Pass subscriber. We recommend just waiting anywhere from 10 minutes to half an hour as this sort of issue happens fairly regularly with large Game Pass releases. If the error message persists, all you can do is wait for a specific update to be pushed out to your game.

On Xbox Series X, this update is around 4GB and a little over 2GB on Xbox Series S. If neither starting the game up nor checking updates from the “manage game and add-ons” section of the application notify you of an update, you’ll need to restart your system. After doing so, you might get the prompt upon starting the game up. If you don’t, just keep waiting. With the update installed, you’ll then be able to select the campaign option from the main menu. After ticking the campaign box along with your preferred languages, a much larger download roughly equivalent to the size of the multiplayer install will begin. Now you’re on your way to experiencing the Halo Infinite campaign.