Halo Campaign Evolved Crossplay Co-Op: Microsoft Account Link Required
Halo Campaign Evolved supports both drop-in co-op and crossplay, letting players team up across platforms—while also offering local split-screen on select systems. To enable its full online features, players must link their Microsoft account to the game and then cannot unlink the account once chosen, even if they change their mind later.
For local play, split-screen co-op is available on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, but it is not supported on PC. The second player can join by launching the game with at least one controller signed in, connecting a second controller, and selecting the “Player 2 Join” prompt that appears. Player 2 then presses A on Xbox or X on PlayStation to join the same Fireteam. On PlayStation, Player 2 must sign into a PlayStation Network account that’s linked to a Microsoft account. During this split-screen setup, Player 2 does not have access to armor and weapons customization.
For online co-op, Halo Campaign Evolved lets up to four players form a single Fireteam, including players on different platforms. To start, the host selects “Play Co-Op” from the main menu. The game provides two friends lists: one for Platform Friends (players on the same platform as the host) and another for Cross-Platform friends, which requires adding players through the Xbox network using the Microsoft account the host created. After inviting everyone into the Fireteam, the host selects “Start Campaign” to begin the run together.
Cross-play must be enabled in the game’s Account Settings from the main menu, otherwise cross-platform teaming won’t work. Co-op progression is also shared: if the Fireteam unlocks campaign content such as missions, rally points, skulls, or terminals during co-op, those unlocks carry over into the players’ individual campaign progress.
How progression works across hosts is tied to the Fireteam Leader’s campaign state. Co-op sessions continue based on the Fireteam Leader’s campaign progress, including the missions and Skulls the host has available. If the Fireteam Leader has already completed the Campaign and obtained all Skulls, then all players in the session can use them during that co-op run—but those Skulls are not treated as individually unlocked for each player’s own campaign save.
Online co-op has platform subscription requirements: it needs Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Plus for online play, but those subscriptions are not required for split-screen. Finally, the session depends on the host: if the Fireteam Leader leaves the game, the co-op session ends and everyone is returned to the main menu.
