The Halo 5: Guardians multiplayer beta outputs at 60 frames per second and a 720p resolution, developer 343 has confirmed.

Studio head for Halo 5: Guardians Josh Holmes told Eurogamer the resolution of the Xbox One exclusive first-person shooter is subject to change as development continues over the coming year.

"For the beta, at this point we're totally focused on gameplay," he said.

"We're midway through development. We're balancing and tuning the gameplay systems. All of the polish and optimisation graphically is stuff that typically comes towards the end of the production cycle.

"So, for the beta, we're going to be coming out at 720p and 60fps. That's not the final resolution for the game. You can imagine as we go through the remainder of the project we'll be focused on polishing the visual look of the game. You can expect it will look amazing when it comes out."

The Halo 5: Guardians' beta, accessible from 29th December 2014 to those who buy Halo: The Master Chief Collection, runs on dedicated servers. The beta lasts for three weeks, and includes three game modes and seven maps. 343 plans to let players vote on which maps and modes they will like to see over the beta's duration.

It features an XP progression system that determines your Spartan Rank. This unlocks customisable cosmetic pieces such as armour sets, helmets and visor colours. You can also unlock special armour pieces by watching Halo Nightfall and unlocking achievements in The Master Chief Collection. These transfer over to Halo 5: Guardians when it launches late 2015.

The finished game will include is an overhauled Competitive Skill Rating, or CSR. CSR is a seven tier system that goes up and down depending on how well you do in PVP.

Our Halo 5: Guardians hands-on preview goes into more detail. There's gameplay footage in the video below.