How To Disable Cross-Play In Halo Infinite

The multiplayer beta release for Halo Infinite has been a remarkably smooth one, especially when you consider that the game came with full cross-play integration right out of the gate. That’s right: While the game was released on Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC, there’s no barrier between those sets of players–and you can freely team up with your friends no matter what platform they’re on.

Cross-play of this type can be great for expanding the population of multiplayer games, since players are no longer siloed based on what platform they’re using and can instead all play together. But it can have its drawbacks, too. It’s a truism of competitive shooters that players using mouse and keyboard tend to have an advantage over those using controllers, for instance. A mouse allows for much quicker, more precise aiming in a lot of cases, and controller analog sticks just can’t compare to the ease of pointing and clicking. On the other hand, controller players usually benefit from aim assist to help deal with the imprecision of a controller, and it’s not tough to argue that some of Halo Infinite’s gameplay feel is derived from its history as a console shooter. Either way, some players are annoyed with cross-play in Halo Infinite, feeling that they might be at a disadvantage depending on their platform.

The bad news is that, unlike most competitive multiplayer games, such as Battlefield 2042 or Call of Duty: Vanguard, there’s no easy way to toggle off cross-play in Halo Infinite–at least, not right now. But if you’d prefer to play with only other people of your same input type, there is one section of Halo Infinite multiplayer that’ll allow you to do so: ranked play. Here’s how to get into the Ranked Arena playlist and how to face off against players using your preferred brand of input.

Fire Up Ranked Matches

There aren’t a lot of options for tuning your Halo Infinite experience in the beta right now, but one place you can decide what kind of players you face is in the Ranked Arena playlist. Look for it at the bottom of the multiplayer menu. This playlist pits you against players of similar skill levels, and requires that you fight through 10 matches before your place in the ranking is determined.

Choose Your Match Type

On the Ranked Arena playlist, you can choose to play in either the global Open queue or the smaller, Solo/Duos queue. It seems the difference between these two groups is the team makeup you’ll be facing in them. The Solos/Duos queue is where you want to go when you’re playing alone or with one teammate, with matchmaking adding you into games filled with other solo players or duo squads. This way, you can avoid running up against full teams of four that might have a competitive advantage against you if you’re alone. The open queue, on the other hand, will just put you into matches, with no stipulations on the team composition of the players you’ll be joined with or pitted against.

If you want to adjust what input other players are using, you’ll need to enter the solo/duos queue.

Choose Your Input

Once you’ve set the drop-down menu to Solos/Duos, you can then access another drop-down menu just below it. Here, you can dictate the input type of players in your match–whether mouse and keyboard, or controller. That does not mean you’re disabling cross-play, however. You’re still liable to hop into matches with a mix of players on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S. What you will be deciding is whether they’re using a mouse or using a controller, so you can at least feel good knowing you have parity with the rest of the players in the match.

Your Ranking Is Determined By Your Game Queue

If you pay attention to the Ranked Arena playlist menus, you’ll see that your ranking progression is tracked in all three queues–you’ll get a ranking for the open queue, a ranking for Solos/Duos with mouse and keyboard, and a ranking for Solos/Duos with controller. That means you can ignore whatever queues don’t interest you, or you can hop into each one and test your skills in different scenarios.

We’ve got plenty more Halo Infinite coverage, including our Halo Infinite multiplayer beta review, and guides for the game’s best weapons, its equipment, and its vehicles. We’ve also dug into developer 343 Industries’ responses to player complaints about Halo Infinite’s progression, and looked at why its challenge system irks some Spartans.

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