Today truly marks the end of an era as 343 Industries have announced that they have cut couch co-op from the upcoming Halo Infinite winter update.
“We’ve had to make the difficult decision to not ship campaign split-screen co-op and take the resources that we would use on [split-screen co-op] and go after this list and all of these other things,” Halo Infinite creative lead Joseph Staten said in the accompanying video.
It is no surprise that fans have not taken this new well. Halo has always been a series beloved for its cooperative experience. Many of us grew up with Halo co-op with friends or siblings, as some of our fondest memories of the early 2000s. Whether it was playing online through Halo 3, or playing Halo 2 at a friend’s house, it was a gaming rite of passage.
This isn’t the first time that 343 Industries have decided to cut the local co-op from a Halo game either. The lack of couch co-op in Halo 5: Guardians was seen as a “Painful learning experience” by 343 Industries head, Bonnie Ross. 343 Industries went as far as to promise to never remove the feature again, but apparently plans have changed.
It’s been five years since Halo 5: Guardians first came out and 343 Industries has promised that they have learned a lot about that experience, but sadly it seems that, for currently unknown reasons, they are seeking to retread the same mistakes that plagued Halo 5: Guardians once again with Halo Infinite.
The series’ latest is already suffering from a troubled year and a half lifespan. Here’s hoping that breaking that promise and catching the ire of already annoyed fans will be worth the new features that they claim to be working on for Halo Infinite.
Halo Infinite is available on Windows PC (via the Microsoft Store, Steam), Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S. The game is also available on Xbox Game Pass. In case you missed it, you can find our thorough review on the game here.