Halo Infinite dates Forge, online co-op launch, but cancels couch co-op

Halo Infinite developer 343 Industries recently published some good news and some bad news, and fans of local split-screen co-op will be none too happy about it.

According to a recent dev update (via IGN), the Forge beta and the full version of online campaign co-op will finally launch in Halo Infinite on November 8th when its Winter Update goes live. The Winter Update, which will fill in the gap between Seasons 2 and 3, will also bring with it two new maps (which 343 built in Forge), a 30-tier battle pass, a new game mode, mission replay, and more quality of life improvements.

That’s the good news. The bad news is that 343 has cancelled development on its local splitscreen co-op. A statement from 343 said, “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.”

Despite a strong start, it’s no secret that Halo Infinite‘s free-to-play multiplayer has struggled to deliver on the promise of its live service, with 343 admitting in the dev update that the pace of seasonal releases is not enough, and local co-op appears to be 343’s sacrificial lamb in order to get to a better live service.

As it stands now, the Winter Update will run until March 7th. Season 3 will then launch, bringing with it new maps, a new weapon, a new gadget, and a full 100-tier battle pass. Before then, players can make their own maps in Forge, which is way more powerful than Halo 5‘s Forge, including a way higher object limit, object scaling, and much, much more.

Halo Infinite is available on Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and PC.