Halo: Campaign Evolved ships with split-screen co-op on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S — but not on PC. A mod released on Nexus Mods on 29 July 2026 changes that, and the reason it works at all is that the feature was never really gone. The code and user-interface elements for local split-screen are sitting inside the PC build, disabled by Halo Studios. The mod simply turns them back on.

Modder JPurd123 created the tool, which is hosted on Nexus Mods and was first reported by PC Gamer on 29 July, with Eurogamer covering it the following day. Rather than patching the game's executable file, the mod uses a tool called UE4SS — a scripting framework for Unreal Engine games — to add a second local player while the game is running and clear two conditions that block the mode. Players press a hotkey to activate it.

The solution comes with caveats. It is limited to two players, while console versions support four-player split-screen. It was built and tested only with the Steam version of the game, not the Microsoft Store or Game Pass release. Comments on the mod page indicate both players need to use controllers, and subtitles currently draw across both screens rather than per-player. A separate split-screen mod, "Split-Screen Revival" (version 0.5.1), is also available on the same game page and directs users to disable Steam Input in the game's controller properties before installing.

The modding effort had an unusual assistant: JPurd123 used Anthropic's Claude Code, an AI-powered coding tool, to help with parts of the development. Nexus Mods already hosts 114 mods for Halo: Campaign Evolved across its dedicated category page, and the game is officially recognized as a moddable title on the platform — meaning the tools and community infrastructure for this kind of work were already in place.

For PC players who wanted couch co-op and found it missing, the fix is here in rough but working form. It is a community-built patch for a feature that existed in the game all along, just switched off.

Halo: Campaign Evolved is available now on PC and consoles. In a separate technical analysis, Eurogamer previously reported that the game runs better on PS5 than on Xbox Series X.