Halo Infinite multiplayer news: Bots, split-screen, free-to-play clarified

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  Halo Infinite. [credit: Xbox Game Studios ]

After releasing a sizzle-reel of Halo Infinite this weekend, developer 343 industries on Monday provided a deep-dive video on the game's upcoming multiplayer mode. The showcase explains what we should expect from the series' first cross-platform, free-to-play shooter later this year. The best news echoes a 2017 Microsoft pronouncement: Split-screen gameplay is back.

Microsoft has tucked the split-screen news away as a single line of text in this week's blog post on the video reveal. The post also confirms that Halo Infinite, like Halo 5, will support LAN play across all compatible platforms (Windows PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S) via a dedicated "local server" app on PC. And the video reaffirms 343 Industries' promise that the series' first-person games "will always have split-screen support going forward." 343 Industries chief Bonnie Ross made that statement in 2017 after Halo 5 took considerable lumps from the community for cutting that support.

Today's update only says that split-screen support is available for "Xbox." It does not clarify whether the feature will support fewer players on a single screen on weaker Xbox One consoles or whether such a feature will work via Xbox's burgeoning cloud-gaming options. (Also, can we seriously toggle split-screen options on PC already? We plug computers into big-screen TVs now, 343.)

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