What You Need to Play Halo: Campaign Evolved on PlayStation 5

Halo Studios has confirmed that PlayStation 5 players will need a Microsoft account and Xbox Gamertag to play Halo: Campaign Evolved, and a PlayStation Plus subscription on top of that to run split-screen co-op. The detail comes from a new Community Q&A posted to Halo Waypoint on June 20, ahead of the game's July 28 launch. Premium Edition pre-orders get up to five days of Early Access starting July 23.

The account requirement is not new for the franchise, but the specifics differ by platform. Halo Studios framed it as the same setup that already applies to Halo: The Master Chief Collection and Halo Infinite, citing cross-platform play and cross-platform progression as the reason. On Xbox Series X|S, both players in a local split-screen session need a unique Microsoft account, and online co-op requires an active Xbox Game Pass subscription. On Steam, you link to a Microsoft account.

Account and subscription requirements for Halo: Campaign Evolved co-op:

• All platforms: a Microsoft account and Xbox Gamertag are required to play, regardless of where you play.
• PS5 local split-screen: both players need PlayStation accounts linked to Microsoft accounts; PS Plus is NOT required (corrected June 20).
• PS5 online co-op: an active PlayStation Plus subscription is required.
• Xbox Series X|S: each split-screen player needs a unique Microsoft account; online co-op requires Xbox Game Pass.
• Steam: you must link to a Microsoft account.

PlayStation 5 is where the conditions stack up. For local split-screen, both players must be signed into PlayStation accounts and linked to Microsoft accounts. Online network co-op requires an active PlayStation Plus subscription. The Q&A originally stated that PS Plus was required for local split-screen as well, then corrected itself on June 20: PS Plus is not needed for local split-screen co-op, only for online play. The correction matters because the difference is two paid subscriptions versus one, and that gap is what drew the loudest reaction. One commenter on Bluesky contrasted the setup with Nintendo hardware, where controllers detach and local multiplayer starts in seconds, and asked why two subscriptions should gate the same thing.

The studio's advice for launch day is practical: create an Xbox account beforehand so you are not stuck setting one up when the disc goes in the tray on July 28.

The same Q&A worked through a long list of mechanical questions. Three Skulls are hidden on each mission, with another three granted when you unlock Campaign Remix. Third-person play is optional and tied to a "Perspective" Skull hidden in one of the game's 13 missions. The Blind Skull strips the HUD, weapons, and hands from view, and pairs with the Acrophobia Skull, which lets you fly. The backpack reload from the original returns as the "Stowed Reload" Skull, which lets a weapon reload while stowed on your back, preserving the spirit of a glitch that was once a button trick. There is no Photo Mode or Theater Mode planned. Hitmarkers are on by default and can be switched off in settings. The Mark IV armor stays locked to the three new bonus missions, and personalized Spartan customization will not appear in cutscenes.

Co-op encounters scale with party size. More players can mean more enemies, a higher chance that enemies upgrade to a higher rank, and sharper enemy AI that dodges grenades, targets players more efficiently, and falls back to recharge shields. To keep mixed-skill lobbies workable, the game adds per-player Difficulty Modifiers covering damage resistance, shield recharge rate, damage dealt, melee damage, and ammo options like Infinite Ammo and Bottomless Clip. Some Achievements lock out if any Fireteam member enables a modifier. I run most co-op campaigns with friends who play far less than I do, so per-player tuning that does not force the whole lobby to the same difficulty is the rare feature I actually need rather than tolerate. LASO will use a curated Skull selection rather than every Skull at once, in line with MCC.

The Collector's Edition is sold out with no restock planned. Halo Studios said its retail partners audited orders and found no evidence of widespread scalping, with only a small share of purchases flagged as suspicious and refunded. More Campaign Evolved collectibles are planned through the year to mark Halo's 25th anniversary. There will be no demo before launch, and the game is not being built toward a live service; there are no plans for story DLC, Firefight, or additional Skulls after release.

The part the Q&A keeps circling back to is the three new story missions. They run as a prequel and are not gated behind any task or paywall, so you can load them the moment the game opens. Halo Studios still recommends new players start with the original campaign for its tutorials. The mission pack, revealed earlier as Operation: Meteorite, is set a year before Combat Evolved and follows Master Chief and Sergeant Johnson attacking a Covenant research vessel, with new enemy variants, weapons drawn from across the series, and a larger role for Johnson. His Stanchion weapon stays exclusive to those prequel missions. I think the decision to leave the three new story missions open from the start, rather than locking them behind the remade campaign, is the clearest signal that Halo Studios wants this new content judged on its own.

Read also, Microsoft is rumored to be exploring a Halo MMO in the vein of Destiny 2, a concept reportedly pitched by Obsidian and greenlit for early prototyping under the codename Team X.