Mod unlocks hidden split-screen co-op in Halo: Campaign Evolved on PC

A modder has activated split-screen co-op in the PC version of Halo: Campaign Evolved — the feature was sitting dormant in the game's code all along, just never switched on by Halo Studios. Console players on Xbox and PS5 get split-screen out of the box, but PC was locked to online co-op only.

The mod, called Halo Campaign Evolved Split-screen Coop and uploaded to Nexus by Jpurd123, was built with AI assistance and works by enabling code already present in the PC remake. Once installed, split-screen kicks in via a simple keyboard shortcut before launching a session. Comments on the mod page say it works reliably if you follow the setup steps exactly. There are real limitations though: it only supports two players right now, not the four-player co-op the remake officially advertises. It's also only been tested on the Steam version, so Game Pass and Microsoft Store players may be out of luck. Both players need to use controllers — mixing keyboard-and-mouse with a controller causes the keyboard to hijack both screens.

Halo: Campaign Evolved is a full remake of the original Halo: Combat Evolved, released as part of Microsoft's push to bring classic Halo titles to modern platforms. The lack of PC split-screen is a recurring frustration across the series — the Master Chief Collection also shipped without local co-op on PC, and it took the community considerably longer to find workarounds for those older titles. With living room PCs and local game streaming more common than ever, the omission stings more than it would have a decade ago.

The fact that a working solution appeared within a day of the remake's full launch is a good sign for the modding scene around Campaign Evolved. Whether Jpurd123 expands the mod to support four players or broader platform compatibility remains to be seen, but the community now at least has something to work with while Halo Studios stays silent on the issue.