Halo Infinite isn't getting split-screen co-op, but fans have figured out how to do it anyway

Halo Infinite may not officially have splitscreen co-op but that hasn't stopped players from figuring out how to get up to four couch co-op partners anyway.

Courtesy of a menu glitch and some kind of tech wizardry that quietly blows my mind, players have worked out how to implement local co-op that supports up to four players without impacting cut-scenes or even enemy spawns and behaviors.

As for how you can pull it off? Well, you'll need an Xbox Series S or X, an online friend, and this workaround from @Zeny_IC, which has been written up by @HaloCreation:

• Go to the campaign menu and load a save
• Click on Play and get ready to quickly go to your friend list
• As soon as "loading map" appears, go to your friend list and join a friend who's idling in the menus
• You can then leave the fireteam
• In the custom lobby, under server, select "offline"
• You can now connect your other controllers and profiles
• Click Play!

Whilst, obviously, it's not formally supported and therefore may result in some odd behavior, right now the glitch seems to work like a charm. 

The latest Halo Infinite roadmap is here, and it confirms what we were dreading: Season 3 is being pushed until next year, and 343 Industries is abandoning Halo Infinite split-screen co-op altogether… which is why players are desperately looking for workarounds, of course.

Alyssa's brilliant feature "Halo Infinite could be great but I'm tired of waiting" oh-so-perfectly encapsulates how the news makes me feel, too.

"Halo Infinite has so much potential and a passionate fan base that wants, desperately, for this game to have a shelf life as long as the others in the franchise," she says. "For a while, players just wanted consistent updates on what was to come. 

"But with so many features delayed or outright canceled, even with the latest roadmap in my hands, I have to wonder how much of it will actually materialize. Will we ever get a robust Forge roll-out? Will Season 3 last just three and a half months? Most importantly, will I run out of patience before this game finally feels complete?"

As for why we're not getting splitscreen co-op?

"We had to make the difficult decision not to ship campaign split-screen coop, and take the sources that we would use on that and go after this list and all these other things," 343 head of creative Joseph Staten said. Whilst he stopped short of detailing what those "other things" are, they likely include cheaters, polish, bugs, and other issues that have plagued the shooter since launch.