Although the release date for the next installment in the long-running "Halo" franchise from Microsoft and 343 Industries is already set in stone, the development team is still hard at work to continuously improve the upcoming title, especially now that the latest title will feature new and updated content.

For "Halo 5: Guardians," one of the most notable change is the shift of play styles. For the upcoming title, 343 Industries opted for a team-based, co-op gameplay, be it both for multiplayer battles or campaign story sorties.

In the latest issue of Official Xbox Magazine (via GamesRadar), 343 Industries head Josh Holmes pointed out that the shift was conceptualized as early as the days of "Halo 4."

According to Holmes, the shift of focus from single-player missions to online co-op play particularly for role-playing games meant that games would eventually become a huge part of social media. Holmes stressed, "I think co-op has always been a big part of Halo's campaign, but in the past it's sort of been treated as a completely separate experience, where you just have three other clones of the Master Chief running side by side."

This type of connection-based team play can be seen heavily on "Halo 5: Guardians," where even in the story mode, a single player will still have the support of three AI soldiers, completing a four-man squad.

Checking out each team AI's point of view, paths, and map placements also makes for a seamless drop-in, drop-out, and combat engagement experience. "And early on we started talking about the types of stories that we wanted to tell and the experiences that we wanted to create, and we really wanted to focus on a much more sociable experience, especially in our campaign," added Holmes.

"Halo 5: Guardians" will roll out for the Xbox One on Oct. 27.