Halo: Campaign Evolved, debuting for the first time on PS5, will feature two-player split-screen and four-player online campaign co-op – but it won’t have competitive multiplayer.
Obviously, the LAN tournaments in the original Halo: Combat Evolved were a formative part of the franchise’s appeal, so it’s odd to see any form of PvP absent here.
Speaking with Windows Central, executive producer Damon Conn explained it’s part of developer Halo Studios’ decision not to “replace” the original.
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He said:
“We're not trying to replace what is a masterpiece in the original. We're trying to basically make something that stands kind of shoulder to shoulder with it, using new tools, new energy, to get a little bit of a fresh take on some things, but honouring the legacy.”
Conn continued that it’s imperative it gets the game’s new four-player online offering right, and it’s invested a lot of effort into that.
He added:
“Halo has been always about reconnecting, a strong sense of community, and then also telling those stories and sharing those experiences together. And we believe that is where we're really going to be able to bring people together with this new release.”
It’s a bit of a wishy-washy answer really, and it doesn’t really clarify Halo Studios’ position.
There have been rumours that the developer is also working on some form of standalone live service multiplayer spin-off, so perhaps it intends to deliver the series’ trademark competitive action in a different package.
Either way, the studio has said to expect more Halo games on PS5 moving forward, so whatever comes next is at least guaranteed to launch on Sony’s system.