‘Halo 4’: Crimson Map Pack Accidentally Given Away By Microsoft

Earlier on in the week, Microsoft and 343 Industries made Halo 4‘s first DLC, titled the “Crimson map pack,” available on the Xbox 360 for the price of 800 Microsoft Points ($9.99). If you picked up the War Games pass, the map pack is available at no extra charge.

For some, however, the map pack was available free of charge even if they hadn’t purchased the season pass. Those who played Halo 4 during its first two weeks of launch were promised a code to redeem access to multiplayer specializations, but that was supposed to be all.

Thanks to a goof on Microsoft’s end, redeeming the code also gave gamers access to the Halo 4 Crimson map pack for free. Rather than trying to resolve the issue, or snatching the DLC away from anyone who redeemed the code, Microsoft has decided to run with it.

A Microsoft PR rep tells Game Informer:

“As an additional reward to those customers that participated in our “14 Day, Buy and Play” program (which ran from Nov. 6 – Nov. 20), we are providing complimentary access to the Crimson Map Pack for a limited time, through Tuesday, December 18 at 9am UTC/GMT.

“There were some initial complications with the distribution of the “14 day, Buy and Play” reward tokens, and so we decided to provide the additional reward of complimentary access to the Crimson Map Pack, for a limited time, as a “thank you” to our customers that contributed to the success of the “Halo 4” launch.”

So, there you have it. If you played Halo 4 early, you can redeem your code before next week to access the map pack at no charge. Good on you, Microsoft.