While Halo Infinite’s campaign was widely loved by fans and critics alike, most players were disappointed to learn that the game didn’t support co-op play (local or online) when it launched late in 2021. At the time, developer 343 Industries promised that co-op would come to the game at a later date. Now, seven months later, the studio has revealed that the beloved feature is slated to arrive in Halo Infinite in August 2022.
Ahead of the upcoming release of campaign co-op, the developers have planned a “test flight” beta for it. Here’s everything you need to know about the co-op beta, including how you can play it, how to sign up for it, what the beta’s release date is, and more.
What is the Halo Infinite co-op beta?
The Halo Infinite co-op beta is, much like previous Halo Infinite betas, a test for the game’s upcoming feature. By “flighting” a work-in-progress version of campaign co-op to a select group of players, 343 Industries can identify and resolve bugs, glitches, and other issues that might have made it into the launch version of co-op without the data gathered from the beta.
Currently, we’re not sure about how many players will be able to play co-op together at once during the beta, nor do we know how much of the Halo Infinite campaign will be playable during the test. However, it’s likely that players will be able to play at least one of the game’s story missions as well as a portion of Halo Infinite’s open world, allowing them to test both of the campaign’s main gameplay experiences. We also expect co-op testing to support the full four-player lobby count planned for the feature’s final release.
It’s also unknown whether the beta will be available on both Xbox and PC or whether this initial test will be exclusive to one platform, though based on 2021’s beta tests, we expect the former to be the case. Ultimately, though, we need further details from the developers before we can know for sure.
Will the Halo Infinite co-op beta have splitscreen?
With 343 Industries planning to add co-op to Halo Infinite’s campaign in 2022, many players have wondered whether the co-op beta, as well as the feature’s official release, will include local splitscreen co-op.
Unfortunately, based on the Halo Infinite Season 2 roadmap, the co-op beta as well as the co-op feature coming this year will be exclusively network-based. This means that while you’ll be able to play co-op with friends online, you won’t be able to do it with them on the couch with one Xbox console.
This news will no doubt disappoint many fans, especially since 343 Industries head Bonnie Ross promised that splitscreen would be in the next Halo game after Halo 5: Guardians during a DICE Summit 2017 presentation. The studio does have plans to make good on that promise, though, as the roadmap for Halo Infinite Season 2 also indicates that splitscreen campaign co-op will come at some point in 2023.
Therefore, we anticipate that a co-op beta for testing splitscreen will be held eventually, even though splitscreen won’t be available for the initial co-op beta and release. It’s unfortunate that it’s coming so late, but at least we know for sure that it’s coming.
How to play the Halo Infinite co-op beta
To have a chance at playing the Halo Infinite co-op beta, you’ll need to sign up for the Halo Insider Program. This program was launched by Microsoft and 343 Industries in 2018 as the “MCC Insider Program” to test updates and fixes for Halo: The Master Chief Collection, and after being renamed, it was used again in 2021 to beta test Halo Infinite’s multiplayer experiences.
Note that the Halo Insider Program is completely free to register for, so there’s really no reason why you shouldn’t sign up. Once you’ve completed the sign-up process, you’ll have a chance at gaining access to the upcoming campaign co-op test flight beta. If the developers invite you to participate in the beta, you’ll be sent an email as well as a message on the Halo Waypoint website that instructs you on how to access the beta.
If the co-op beta works like previous Halo Infinite beta tests did, Xbox players and PC players using the Microsoft Store to play Halo Infinite will need to download the Xbox Insider Hub app (opens in new tab) to access it. PC players using Steam, meanwhile, will be able to access the beta through a code provided by 343 Industries.
How to sign up for the Halo Infinite co-op beta
We recommend signing up for the Halo Insider Program as soon as possible so that you have a good chance of getting invited to the Halo Infinite co-op beta when it goes live. Thankfully, the process of doing so is incredibly easy, and it will only take you a few minutes. Here’s how to do it:
- Go to the Halo Insider homepage.
- Select the Join Halo Insider button.
- Sign in with the Microsoft account you use to play Halo Infinite.
- Read and agree to the Confidentiality Statement.
- Under the Preferences tab, enter and verify your email, timezone, flighting availability, and platform and game preferences.
- Under the Console Flighting tab, opt into console flights and enter information about your console if you play on Xbox.
- Under the PC Flighting tab, opt into PC flights and enter information about your PC if you play on PC.
- After you fill out each tab, select Save.
Note that to give yourself the best chance of being invited to the campaign co-op beta, you should make sure that you select “Campaign,” “Campaign co-op,” and “Social Multiplayer” when choosing your game mode and experience preferences in the Preferences tab.
Halo Infinite co-op beta start date and time
According to a recent Tweet from the official Halo account, 343 Industries is planning on beginning the Halo Infinite co-op beta in July — one month before the studio is expected to launch network co-op in the live game. It’s unclear when specifically the beta will become available, but based on Halo Infinite’s current weekly update schedule, our best guess is that the beta will launch on a Tuesday at 11 a.m. PT / 2 p.m. ET.
We also don’t know how long the beta will be available or whether or not players will be able to access it around the clock while it’s active, as some previous Halo Infinite betas only had online services up and running during specific hours of the day. We won’t know specifics like these until the developers share more information.
Halo Infinite is available now, and its excellent campaign makes it one of the best Xbox shooters to play if you like rich singleplayer experiences. The multiplayer is also completely free to play if you’re interested in jumping into Halo Infinite’s PvP experiences.
