Halo Infinite's local co-op canceled to focus on quality of life updates

Halo Infinite developer 343 Industries has announced that to continue improving its live service shooter, development has ceased on the local split-screen mode for campaign co-op.  

"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," wrote 343. 

Before Halo Infinite released in November 2021, 343 revealed that co-op and Forge wouldn't be in the game at launch, but later added in for free in future seasons. The two features have become staples of the franchise for years: splitscreen co-op goes back to the original Halo in 2001. Forge, which lets players edit already created maps and create their own to share with the larger community, was introduced in 2007's Halo 3, which also brought four player online co-op.

Online co-op remains, though, and will be coming alongside Forge as part of Infinite's winter update beginning on November 8. 

In 2017, 343's Bonnie Ross said that following the release of Halo 5: Guardians, every first-person Halo game going forward from the developer would feature split-screen co-op (Halo 5, like Infinite, only had online co-op). 

However, making Infinite's campaign has notably had some speedbumps. Campaign lead Joe Staten talked earlier this summer about "targeted cuts" made to get the game ready for release, and losing local co-op is another targeted cut. 

In the months since the initial co-op delay, 343 has held closed betas to test the four-player online co-op. Part of the difficulty in bringing the mode to fruition has been the Infinite campaign's new open world structure. Previous Halo games have allowed co-op players to get only so far from each other before one would be teleported to the other. 

Co-op in Halo Infinite will have cross-platform support, and cross-progression. However, 343 has previously confirmed that it won't have online matchmaking. Those looking to play the game with others will have to get a group together.