Halo Infinite's Campaign Co-Op Beta Kicks Off Soon - Here's How To Get Access
Seven months after the release of "Halo Infinite," fans of the game will finally be able to try out co-op. Although many are eager to jump straight into the action, 343 Industries (the game studio behind the title) is not quite ready to pull the trigger on that just yet. Before co-op becomes available to all "Halo Infinite" players, a select bunch will be able to try it out in a beta test, starting as early as July 11, 2022. Getting beta access is fairly easy, but like most things in life, it's going to cost you. However, with the number of quality of life changes 343 Industries is bringing to co-op in "Halo Infinite," it just might be worth it.
The upcoming changes were first introduced in a lengthy interview over at the Halo Waypoint. In the interview, lead world designer John Mulkey and principal software engineering lead Isaac Bender talk about what we can expect from the co-op once it's fully finalized and implemented. They note that co-op has always been an important part of gameplay in the "Halo" franchise, and with that in mind, the team worked to implement it into the latest installment of the game — but not without a few fixes that might set it apart from similar co-op games.
No Spartan Left Behind makes friendly gameplay easy
In the past, and in other major co-op games, playing co-op equals advancing the game only for the person who is hosting it. The other players join the game and progress for the host but are unable to retain that progress for their own saves, and they also cannot start up the game without the host being around to do it for them. It seems that with "Halo Infinite," the developers behind the game wanted to take a different approach by making co-op progress accessible even after the gaming session is over. As Bender said, "One of our core principles is that we don't want to require you to have an isolated co-op save."
As a result of that new policy, every player's progress is going to count toward their main playthrough. Any items, collectibles, achievements, and mission progress earned during a co-op session will carry over to an individual gamer's save. There's also a new approach referred to as "No Spartan Left Behind." When you join a Fireteam and select your save slot, the game will look at mission completion across all the saves and then set up a game world for you and your friends. In that game world, any mission that has been completed will be marked as such, but only as long as every single member of the Fireteam will have it completed. If there's even one person that hasn't tackled it just yet, the mission will be incomplete for everyone in the co-op world.
How do I join the co-op beta for Halo Infinite?
In order to try the beta out for yourself when it rolls out on July 11, you'll have to register to be a Halo Insider. There's one more requirement that's not really all too unexpected — you need to be an Xbox Game Pass member, which means you'll have to subscribe for at least a month. If you haven't subscribed to it before, you'll be able to grab your first month for just $1 if you sign up on the official Xbox website. Once that month is up, you'll be charged $14.99 for every month that follows, so make sure to cancel your subscription in time if you won't want to extend it. However, seeing as Microsoft continuously adds new content to the Xbox Game Pass, staying subscribed is not a terrible idea if you're a frequent gamer.
If you're on an Xbox console or you play "Halo Infinite" through your Game Pass subscription, you'll also have to sign up for the Xbox Insider program. In order to do this, on an Xbox console, go to the Xbox Store (found on the Home screen or in the guide), pick Search, and type in "Insider," then select Xbox Insider Bundle and install it. Gamers on a Windows 10/11 platform can find it in the Microsoft Store in the same way.
If you want to hop in and try the "Halo Infinite" co-op beta, you should be quick to jump through all of the aforementioned hoops — 343 Industries says that registering after July 5 may not get you an invitation. Keep in mind that the July 11 date is not set in stone and there might be delays, but one way or another, it seems to be happening soon.