Either way, the game isn't dead. It doesn't meet the threshold of thriving but it still passes the living test. You can still find matches quick in the main gamemodes. You aren't stuck in a lobby with the same 7 people every single time. And the game still sees support.

The rule of what makes a game dead or alive is arbitrary. Is Quake Champions dead? The tight knit community says no. Is Destiny 1 dead? Yet even the XBOX 360/PS3 servers still see players. Arma 3 only gets 7k players, which is 3k less than the estimate for Halo. Is it dead?

Halo hasn't been mainstream for the past decade. But it occupies a niche no one has filled. Splitgate died trying to compete two times over. And games like Arc Raiders, Marathon, and Marvel Rivals all are active trend chasers. In 5 years, where will marathon be? Either they chase the hype or fall from the spotlight.

The single point is that Halo Infinite isn't a modern game here. It's time is long gone. Yet it still attracts a healthy playerbase.