Halo Infinite's co-op campaign won't have online matchmaking, even after leaving beta
Xbox has advised players to use Halo LFG and Discord to find people to play with.
Halo Infinite's co-op campaign has been eagerly anticipated for a while now, with the beta arriving just last week, but to the dismay of many fans, the new mode will not feature any online matchmaking. This will also persist even after the mode leaves beta, meaning players must recruit friends of their own to play alongside.
This campaign update is currently in beta for Xbox Insiders. The full update, which includes online co-op and split-screen play, is set to fully launch in August of this year.
Online co-op play does not extend to online matchmaking, however, meaning that if you're trying to play co-op online, you'll need to recruit friends to play with yourself.
Xbox addressed the concerns in talk with GamesRadar: "Online matchmaking will not be available with final co-op. We encourage you to continue to use the Halo LFG and the new Discord voice call feature on Xbox to find players to party up with as you continue playing the beta."
This comes as quite the shock to many, with campaign co-op having been a core component of many Halo games before it. If you're looking to blast through the campaign with an ally, you're going to need to recruit friends of your own or find them via the Discord, which might not be the quick, seamless, multiplayer experience you may have hoped for.
Whether Xbox are trying to do something different here with Halo Infinite, or are simply trying to promote Discord's new Xbox integrations, is unknown.