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343: Halo 5 split-screen removed “for scale, fidelity and focus”

343 Industries’ Josh Holmes has taken to Halo Waypoint to explain why split-screen won’t feature in Halo 5: Guardians.

“The decision to remove split-screen support from Halo 5: Guardians was one of the most difficult ones we’ve ever had to make as a studio,” Holmes said. “We know that for many of our fans, Halo has meant playing together with friends in the same room. We all have great memories of past Halo split-screen multiplayer matches.”

Holmes further explained that the choice to remove split-screen was “tough” and was made “for scale, fidelity and focus.”

“With Halo 5 we are delivering massive scale environments, improved AI behavior, increased visual and gameplay fidelity,” Holmes continued.

“Many of our ambitious goals for Halo 5 would be compromised in a split-screen setting and the time spent optimizing and addressing split-screen-specific issues would take focus from building other parts of the game.

“Game development is a balancing act of resources, time and technology, and in this case we made the tough decision to sacrifice something that’s been near and dear to us all.”

Are you satisfied with the explanation?


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Steve Wright

Steve's the owner of this very site and an active games journalist nearing twenty (TWENTY!?!) years. He's a Canadian-Australian gay gaming geek, ice hockey player and fan. Husband to Matt and cat dad to Wally and Quinn.