Looking around the Xbox world today, the topic that seems to be trending the most is about Halo: Campaign Evolved and its interactive requirements – something that Halo Waypoint detailed in last night’s Q&A.
For anyone on Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S, of course mostly self-explanatory. If you want to play online co-op, you’ll need an Xbox account and some form of Xbox Game Pass subscription. You’ll also need two Xbox accounts if you’re playing co-op offline, so just keep that in mind before you log in with a friend for some split-screen.
If you’re wondering if you can use a P2 guest account instead, it’s not confirmed in any way here:
XBOX Series X|S: When playing split screen on an XBOX console, the second player will need a separate Microsoft account. If you want to play online co-op, you’ll need an active XBOX Game Pass subscription.
The most confusing thing is that if you play Halo: Campaign Evolved on PS5, both accounts will require PlayStation Plus registration. regardless whether you are playing offline or online. There’s a lot of flak being sent Xbox’s way for this, but we think it’s a PlayStation decision more than anything… or maybe some sort of weird quirk in the way Xbox accounts work on PS5.
In any case, here are the official words for it:
PlayStation 5®: If you play split-screen on PlayStation 5®, both accounts will need to have PlayStation Plus and be linked with a Microsoft account. Having this active PlayStation Plus subscription will also provide access to online co-op play.
The Steam version on PC also requires an Xbox account to access any form of co-op play.
This FAQ is a must-read if you want to check out some frequently asked questions about Halo: Campaign Evolved, as it looks at topics such as the sale of Collector’s Editions (unfortunately no longer planned), the ability to access previous missions as soon as you start the game, how the new third-person mode will work, and unfortunately I won’t demo before launch in late July.
It also goes into more detail about balanced co-op, including the introduction of the new Difficulty Modifiers feature:
And, since not everyone in your Co-Op session will be at the same skill level, we’ve also introduced a new feature – Difficulty Adjusters – to help everyone enjoy their time together. Difficulty Modifiers allow each player to customize the settings, which can help them have an easier time or a more difficult challenge.
Go and check that out in Halo Waypoint, and let us know your thoughts in the comments below!