343 Industries has unveiled what's coming to Halo Infinite in Season 3 and beyond, with a fairly substantial roadmap and dev diary laying everything out for the coming months. Sadly, tucked in here is the news that local split-screen co-op has been unfortunately cancelled.
The reason behind the cancellation seems to be to free up developer resources for other elements of Halo Infinite's live service. We can't say we're surprised, as the team has struggled to add substantial content to the game since its late 2021 launch. Here's the statement:
"In order to improve and accelerate ongoing live service development, and to better address player feedback and quality of life updates, we have reallocated studio resources and are no longer working on local campaign split-screen co-op."
In better news, Infinite's Forge mode, at least in Beta form, is launching on November 8th, right at the start of Season 3. Online campaign co-op will then follow, sometime during Season 3 - which runs from November 2nd through March 7th. Here's the full dev diary that breaks down the future of Halo Infinite:
Were you looking forward to local co-op? Or is online the only way these days? Let us know!
[source halowaypoint.com, via ign.com]
Comments 44
Pretty crazy they can't include a feature that was possible on nearly all the games in the franchise. All so we can have a half baked live service with over priced skins and little content. Yay
I'm sure there will be some blowback on this, after all they promised to bring the feature back after Halo 5 dropped it.
With yet another delay and removed feature, I do find myself wondering "just how bad was HI before its original delay"
Genuinely want the company 343i to go under. Incompetent charlatans. They'll say anything in order to avoid actually admitting that the company doesn't have the right management and ability to function like others already do.
Well with this, i am done with Halo outside of replaying the OG trilogy games. Cant include a base feature that wS there 15 years ago. Xbox can make services but not games
I wonder if you bought the game, knowing (by publication) a co-op would be included, can you get refunded?
Ohhh good God, this isn't good.
I loved Halo Infinite’s campaign, and I thought it told a great story. With that said, it’s insane to me that they can’t even figure out splitscreen co-op - a staple point in most Halo games, and one of the main reasons the game thrived outside of its multiplayer aspect. This is really disappointing news.
Another 'promise' canceled in the name of Live Service. Well done Microsoft.
This won't go down well at all. It's kind a shame that Microsoft's flagship system showcase didn't deliver.
I played the Campaign and enjoyed it; but it was far from anything spectacular.
I'm not a huge halo guy but I understand it's importance to many. Trudged through the campaign and thought it was serviceable but this is pretty sad. Shame they're fumbling this so much
@pip_muzz MS won't let that happen. They've been propping up 343i since day one. They've not done a single thing themselves that has earned them their position in the industry.
And Bonnie Ross is one of those figures I can't see MS dumping.
I was really looking forward to playing this split screen with my father like back in 2001. I think this is the only gaming news I've ever read where I feel upset. This is hands down the worst Halo news I ever read. It's one thing to confirm it wasn't coming like Halo 5, it's another thing entirely to say its coming and then cancel it. Absolutely buffoonery at play, my disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined.
@Richnj it's genuinely concerning the level of mismanagement from Xbox's in-house studios. Apart from their new already successful acquisitions, 343i are useless, Rare once again have no idea what Everwild is and back to square one and their new studio The Initiative has to have Crystal Dynamics parachuted in to save the day.
I love Xbox and game pass but the elephant in the room here is that they really can't manage their studios well.
@RedSabat equally shattered with the news too. My brother and I always play Halo and Gears co-op split screen. Often agreeing weekends to meet up after months apart to play these games. We couldn't do it for Halo 5 and now can't do it for Halo Infinite. Despite both us very much looking forward to it. Rather than 343i killing dreams I wish MS would kill 343i (in the metaphorical sense)
Wow what a **** show this game has become!
343 are the definition of incompetence, they didn't deserve taking the helm of this legendary franchise after bungie and they sure as hell don't deserve it now.
Wow, hugely disappointing
Live Service? So, in the case of a new Halo game, we will probably see a generic copy of Destiny, that is already generic.
At first you could play local offline splitcreen multiplayer with bots. Now you cant play offline mp w/o being connected online. All the modes and maps dont show unless you’re connected.
Well looks like I can delete this game off of my Series X, glad I didn't pay for it otherwise I would be demanding a full refund for false advertising.
Bruh they can't ship splitscreen in their 10-year game plan? Absolute troglodytes!
Think 343i were all over the place before Staten (guessing he was the cause) came in and made the hard calls to actually get a working game out of what they were building.
Either he or someone else competent need to be given the resources to sort 343i out - I'm guessing in places by expanding teams and in others by getting rid of blockers where possible, be they people or technical issues.
This is actually less final than others had made it sound - I do wonder if with enough uproar they might actually do a Series-only update that allows couch co-op?
Either way, while I love the feel of Infinite - it plays both multi and single player so much like a modern Halo 3 which was always my favourite - 343i do appear to need a hard reset.
Worst of all, it really does seem there's a few Xbox game studios that need them...
Does really feel sometimes like you have a few Xbox studios pulling their weight but some that seem to have taken MS's money and let their imagination run wild forgetting they actually need to make a working game within a certain period.
I'm a developer (not of games) and have worked dreamers before - it never ends well, they have a tantrum when you rein them in, but while it's great to have imagination and enthusiasm you really MUST have pragmatists in the room who keep the end goal in mind...
I don't feel about this the same way most here, but i still think this is not good.
The problem is not that they are not going to pursue the feature, but that they promised it. 343 needs some serious management changes. No, I still don't think this is a widespread Microsoft/XB Game Studios problem, although I'm sure it will reflect on them as such.
This whole thing sums up modern day games. There’s more focus on Live service nonsense than any actual features to make the game more fun.
Not really sure this game is worth the time and investment it is still getting developer wise.
The game came and went so quick campaign and multiplayer wise. The campaign was short and sweet and should have been so much more.
The multiplayer I read is not even in some metric of the top 100 concurrent players anymore.
Flogging a dead horse comes to mind here, especially seems not be selling consoles or game pass, especially general public wise.
I'm done believing in 343. They are simply incompetent. Why on earth they still have the franchise is beyond me.
I've been holding off playing, waiting for local co-op...
Where did I put that dusty old Delete button at?
Pay for GPU get live service games. It’s why I don’t like the model. They aren’t interested in games you can complete. They want games people feel like they have to play and play and play. Everyone is chasing that fortnite addiction.
It’s a real shame
Well this is a shame.
My kids play a LOT of couch co-op from Minecraft to Fortnite to Star Ward Battlefront II and the Plants Vs Zombies games, and many many more, all of which offer split screen co-op.
In fact, I’m still surprised that PvZ:BFN has split screen that is so smooth and playable through the whole game from the campaign to the multiplayer and yet 343 can’t deliver it on Xbox’s flagship game.
It’s really pathetic. A genuine disappointment.
Man I love this game. I really do but this is a major bummer. It was also really sneaky how they tried to get through this news really fast in the video they released. Blink and you miss it. Some of the other stuff does look cool but...ouch...big ouch 343.
343 has destroyed Halo. They must be the most dysfunctional developer in Microsoft's portfolio.
I called it lol wasn't the game advertised as having local co up sounds like false advertising to me
Thankfully I played this thru gamepass. Glad I didn't buy it
BULLSH----------T! 😡
It's sad because the game itself and the mechanics are really fun. But they just keep screwing everything else up.
The following is not an exaggeration:
Every week since Christmas, 2021:
My 10 year old son: "Dad, when can we do couch co-op?"
Literally every week at least once.
He played the campaign solo but stopped before the final battle with The ****** because he didn't want to beat it without me.
He was so disappointed at the previous announced delays to this feature.
What an absolute f**king joke. I don't even have the heart to tell him yet because he's having a rough start to his new school year.
I got him into Halo by playing through the MC Collection campaigns with him via couch-co-op. We even had a "Halo Christmas" last year, complete with Jazzwares Halo figures, the Cardboard Master Chief Standee, and of course Infinite.
This. Just. Sucks.
Not gonna lie I laughed a bit when I saw this. I realise game development is hard but c'mon. I don't think 343 have it in them to carry halo anymore.
Going by Internet forums it would appear that me and my mates are the only people who actually enjoy this game.
What an absolute joke 343 is
"Live service" can be thrown straight in the trash where I'm concerned. I as a consumer never asked for it and never wanted it. And yet, like so many other things, corporations are hellbent on removing things I actually AM interested in...including features that have been staples of previous iterations of longtime franchises...to make room for such crap, which is designed to prioritize making them more $$$.
Perhaps they will make more $$$ that way. They just won't be making a penny of it from my wallet.
What a joke. They said that removing it from Halo 5 was a mistake, they'd learned a painful lesson, and future games would have co-op. I guess they didn't really learn a lesson, and just wanted to make a live service arena shooter to sit at the big boy table.
Correct decision. Split screen co-op is an unimportant niche. The game needs to be supported in other areas.
@Kezelpaso Digital Foundry tested split screen on both series X and One. Take a look:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnmKzYME8BM
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