![]() ![]() There will be consequences.įans aren't happy of course, with a post on the topic on the Xbox Series X subreddit being by far the most commented-on and upvoted post on the sub over the last few days. As a developer or publisher, you can't just be surging towards a live-service future while neglecting the past of a series like Halo. It's a matter of staying true to its roots and loyal to the longer-serving parts of its fanbase. It may not be a 'raw numbers' feature that will be taken up by the majority of gamers, but it's very significant in the way of goodwill - the kind of feature that always generates positive publicity when it's included, negative publicity when it's ousted, and crucially shows that the company cares about its longer-serving fans who grew up rubbing shoulders with real-life friends on maps like Zanzibar and Battle Creek for this small but significant portion of fans, split-screen co-op means far more than, say, a couple of new online maps. The lesson is that split-screen functionality for certain games is a bit like backwards compatibility. But 343 and Xbox Game Studios are overlooking something that they really should understand by now from their own past experiences. If you're enjoying Halo Infinite's live service component, then more power to you, because there are new maps, the Forge mode, online co-op campaign, and other goodies in the pipeline. But the fact that it was ultimately ousted in the name of maintaining the stumbling 'live service' side of the game feels like a classic case of finance over fandom, no doubt enforced by pressures 'from' above at Xbox Game Studios. If the inability to include a co-op campaign was merely a technical matter, then perhaps the blow would've been a bit lessened, and 343 have even mentioned in the past that there have been certain technical challenges in adding a split-screen campaign. It's also worth noting that the PC version of Infinite hasn't received any form of split-screen, so on a hypothetical promise spectrum Ross' promise definitely leans more towards 'unfulfilled' than 'fulfilled.' However, Halo Infinite does shrewdly feature split-screen competitive multiplayer, which means that now 343 can say that they kept to their promise without having to go all the way and give fans what they actually would've expected when Ross made that statement (which is that the split-screen would encompass both co-op campaigns and competitive play, as per tradition). ![]() RELATED: Halo Infinite Roadmap Details Winter Update & Season 3 Content.
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