The recently released advertisement for the Xbox One S All-Digital Edition showed a group of people playing Halo 5: Guardians multiplayer with split-screen. It’s worth mentioning that the feature isn’t included in the game. Lack of Split Screen is one of the problems people have with the game but 343 Industries has stated on multiple occasions that it’s not happening.
Many took the image shown in the footage as a tease that Halo 5 might get this feature with an update soon. But that’s not the case as Halo community director Brian Jarrard took it to Twitter to confirm everyone that it’s nothing but a mistake done in editing. “The footage in question looks to be a little bit of good old fashioned creative liberty in the editing bay”, Jarrard said.
Afterward, another 343 Industries employee confirmed to the confused Halo series fans on Reddit by saying that they have no plans to implement split screen in the future. However, to make everyone happen, he said that the split screen feature will be indeed available in Halo 6/Infinite.
As for why there’s no split screen in the game? It was removed to deliver a better overall game. Though removing this feature from Halo 5 was one of the toughest decisions ever made by the studio. 343 Industries’ executive producer Josh Holmes explained why by saying:
To move Halo’s gameplay forward and deliver a true next-gen experience, tough choices had to be made. Our decision was driven by a desire for scale, fidelity and focus to ensure that we would deliver the best quality experience possible. With Halo 5 we are delivering massive scale environments, improved AI behavior, increased visual and gameplay fidelity… something that truly takes advantage of a new platform.
In addition to that, Microsoft’s Phil Spencer says that local multiplayer is dead as most of Halo 5 co-op action takes place online via Xbox Live. It’s true what he said but sometimes we do miss playing couch co-op. The split screen mode should be an option in multiplayer games.
Split Screen or not, Xbox One S All-Digital Edition will be available for purchase next month on May 7, 2019. It’s going to cost you 250$. The biggest selling point of the console is its low price. There’s no Bluray drive inside. Digital versions of games like Forza Horizon 3, Sea of Thieves, and Minecraft will come pre-installed. Click here to know more about the upcoming new console.
You can grab the discless Xbox One S version next month to play Halo 5 once again.
