Halo Infinite was originally meant to be a launch title for the Xbox Series X, but those plans were delayed and the game's release date was pushed back by an entire year. A specific Halo Infinite release date still has yet to be announced by 343 Industries or Microsoft, but the developers are committed at making sure it launches this holiday season. Unfortunately, this means that the game will be launching without some fan favorite features.
343 Industries recently released a new development update video on Halo Infinite, confirming that the game will be launching without campaign co-op or Forge. This will allow the developers to focus on getting the single-player and multiplayer components done in time. While some fans will be pleased to learn that this means they will still get to play Halo Infinite this year, others will be very disappointed at the lack of co-op.
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Co-op has been integral to Halo's DNA since the very first game launched in 2001, and it has been a consistent feature since then, with support for both online and offline co-op. The only main series Halo game to ditch split-screen co-op was Halo 5: Guardians, an admitted mistake that will supposedly be rectified with Halo Infinite – just not at launch. Forge, meanwhile, is a tool that lets Halo players create their own maps and other content in the game. 343 didn't provide an exact timeframe when fans can expect co-op or Forge to be added to the game, but the hope is campaign co-op comes in Season 2 and Forge is added in Season 3. And with new seasons coming every three months, that means it's highly likely that Halo Infinite won't have co-op until 2022.
Halo Infinite is a live service game, which means that it will receive a number of major updates throughout the course of its lifetime. Besides major new modes like co-op campaign and Forge, players can also look forward to regular content updates for the multiplayer as well. In fact, 343 has already detailed its plans for Halo Infinite multiplayer's Season 1, which will add new content based on Halo: Reach.
There's no denying that the lack of campaign co-op and Forge is going to hurt Halo Infinite's appeal, though its free to play nature may ensure it still has plenty of dedicated players this fall. Halo Infinite's multiplayer is completely free to play, not even requiring an Xbox Game Pass or Xbox Live Gold subscription, and so it stands to reason that it will draw a significant number of players at launch regardless of the fan favorite features that it will be missing.
Halo Infinite is in development for PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
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