Halo Infinite online co-op campaign testing will begin in July for Halo Insiders

As promised, developer 343 Industries is gearing up to give Halo Infinite players a crack at the online co-op campaign in an upcoming test. Starting July 11, Halo Insiders will be able to try out the story alongside a friend or three. There are some rules and limitations, one of which is needing to be an Insider in the first place.

The co-op campaign for Halo Infinite has been a long time coming. Master Chief’s latest adventure marked the first game in franchise history to ship without the mode. Even the original allowed split-screen, two-player co-op through the campaign. It’s been around eight months since the launch of Infinite, but at last players won’t have to only go through solo.

It will be limited, however. To join the co-op test, you must have access to Infinite and be a registered Halo Insider. You can do so at the Halo Waypoint website, but you may not get accepted if you don’t meet the requirements. Secondly, you’ll only be able to play near allies. Since Halo Infinite‘s campaign takes place on a larger world, an “area-of-operations” will be in effect. Straying 800 feet from your closest allies will trigger a warning. At 1,000 feet, you die and respawn near your team. It does make sense, but I sure hope you didn’t have any desire to jet off to the other side of the map while your friends were somewhere else. Deserters will be shot on sight.

Time to load up the Warthog

343 took other concerns in mind when preparing the Halo Infinite co-op test. Spartan Cores and upgrades will be “tracked separately per player.” In other words, you can upgrade your version of the Chief in any way you see fit. If you’d rather pump points into the Grappleshot, then you can.

Another change coming to the co-op play test is the Mission Replay feature. Currently, you can’t replay any mission in Halo Infinite. That became a quick problem for completionists, as some areas with Hidden Skulls got locked down for good after the mission was over. The test will let you try out Mission Replay, allowing you to play any level you want for as long as you want. You’ll also keep your current upgrades when playing old missions.

The co-op test is a separate build of the game. You won’t be able to play using any of your save files. The test begins the week of July 11.