Halo 5 Split-Screen Removal was ‘Most Difficult Decision’ 343i Ever had to Make

Halo 5: Guardians won’t have any split-screen options available in the game. This news came as a shock to series fans, who had enjoyed split-screen gaming in Halo since the very first one launched on the original Xbox. Developer 343 Industries has remained fairly quiet on the topic, merely acknowledging that the feature had been removed, until now.

In an update on the Halo Waypoint site, 343 goes into detail on why split-screen was removed, and how they came to the decision.

“The decision to remove split-screen support from Halo 5: Guardians was one of the most difficult ones we’ve ever had to make as a studio. We know that for many of our fans, Halo has meant playing together with friends in the same room. We all have great memories of past Halo split-screen multiplayer matches.”

“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.”

“Many of our ambitious goals for Halo 5 would be compromised in a split-screen setting and the time spent optimizing and addressing split-screen-specific issues would take focus from building other parts of the game. Game development is a balancing act of resources, time and technology, and in this case we made the tough decision to sacrifice something that’s been near and dear to us all.”

So it seems that while we might be miss out on a feature that we’ve loved for some time, we are getting a better overall game because of it. But what do you think? Does 343’s explanation ease some of the pain, or does it sound like an excuse? Let us know in the comments.

Halo 5: Guardians launches on Xbox One on October 27th.