Halo Infinite's Network Co-Op Test Begins This Week, Here's How To Get In

When Halo Infinite released last December, many players lamented the fact that the game launched without campaign co-op, a staple of the series since the very first title in the series. Ever since launch, 343 Industries has been hard at work adding features to and fine-tuning its game, and pretty soon folks will finally be able to play Halo Infinite's campaign cooperatively online. Sort of.

343 Industries previously announced it would begin testing Halo Infinite's online co-op during the week of July 11. The ability to replay campaign missions will also be part of Infinite's Network Co-Op flight. 343 is using this network test to "catch any networking issues that are specific to Campaign Co-Op." While many were hoping to begin playing co-op today, 343's community director Brian Jarrard announced on Twitter that it had found some bugs in the build, which may slightly delay the test. 343 is still targeting for testing to begin this week.

Importantly, this network test will not carry over any of the player's save data from an existing Halo Infinite file. Nor will progress from the network test carry back over into the main game. The test will take place on a separate build of the game and won't affect a retail copy.

If players want to take part in Halo Infinite's network co-op they must complete a few simple steps:

• Sign up for the Halo Insider Program.
• Make sure you have the entitlement to the Halo Infinite campaign specifically, whether by purchasing it or having it through Game Pass.
• On Xbox, you'll need to have the Xbox Insider app installed and opt into the Network Co-Op flight once it's been pushed live. On Steam, you'll receive a key from Halo Insider that'll let you download the separate flight build.

And that's it! Once all of that's done, it will be as simple as downloading the flight and finishing the fight with some friends. If you don't want to necessarily test out the co-op functionality, or just want your save progress to carry over, Halo Infinite is still on track to receive full campaign online co-op in late August, so the wait won't be terribly long between now and then. Local co-op will be coming to the game at a later date.

It's been a rough time for Halo Infinite, which is currently in the middle of its second protracted season. Infinite, which dropped its multiplayer component a month ahead of the campaign releasing in December, has been under constant fire for launching without certain features fans have been clamoring for. Network campaign co-op and mission replay, however, mark the biggest steps the game has taken towards a perceived state of completion, with other staples like Forge also arriving in the next few months to round out the game's offerings.