Halo: Campaign Evolved

Microsoft

Xbox is in the middle of trying to turn an aircraft carrier around, with new leadership attempting to reverse many of the old policies of the last administration. One of those issues is the concept of exclusivity, where Microsoft began handing out former Xbox exclusives, even some from its biggest IPs, over to PlayStation. That includes the upcoming Halo: Campaign Evolved.

Now, however, PlayStation and Xbox players are getting a look at just how many hoops they or their friends have to jump through in order to play Halo: Campaign Evolved together. The requirements bend the mind a bit, as most of the time they need PlayStation account, a Microsoft account, or even an Xbox Gamertag. Here’s what the FAQ says:

• For cross-progression in any form, you need a Microsoft account and Xbox gamertag no matter what platform you play on.
• However, if you want to play split-screen on an Xbox console, the second player needs their own Microsoft subscription.
• If you are the PlayStation player and playing split-screen on the PS5, both accounts will need PlayStation Plus and be linked to a Microsoft account, and the PS+ subscription is also needed for online co-op
• On Steam, you need a linked Microsoft account.

The wild part here is that what this is saying is that, for local co-op, you need an online account, which bends the mind when you try to justify that. Some say this is Microsoft trying to make PlayStation the annoying place to play, while others think it's a PlayStation demand, requiring both players to have a PS+ subscription for PS5 co-op.

It’s not clear what the answer is here, but the ultimate conclusion might be “is this even worth it?” Like may just play with like here, and co-op across consoles may be too irritating to bother with. My guess is that none of this is being done with some ulterior motive, like say, Microsoft not being able to make Halo: Campaign Evolved exclusive at this point, so it’s just trying to annoy Sony players, but probably some weird technical thing. But it doesn’t really matter because it comes off so poorly regardless.

Debates about actual future exclusives are slowly playing out in public. No need to worry about split-screen or online co-op between PS5 and Xbox for Gears of War E-Day, which CEO Asha Sharma proudly announced would be exclusive. And while we do not have so much as a release year for the next mainline Halo game, it stands to reason that there will be no more Master Chief sharing with what at least used to be Xbox’s arch-rivals, and may be again.

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Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.