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Halo is coming to PC

Halo is coming to PC
Jeremy Milliner

Jeremy Milliner

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After years of lobbying from fans, Microsoft and 343 Industries are finally bringing the fan-favorite Halo series to PC gamers. Long-time fans of the series may remember tackling the Covenant and Flood back in Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2 on Windows.

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Unfortunately, every title from Halo 3 on (excluding Halo Wars) was only available on Xbox. Fans who wanted to drop back into fray as Master Chief had to cough up the cash for a new gaming console. The series has been a big name for Microsoft, and was one of the major titles that helped to launch the Xbox platform in the first place. Last week on their official Twitter account, Halo announced that it would finally be returning to its roots:

PC gamers will be able to dive back into the series via Halo: The Master Chief Collection (coming soon to Steam!), a catalog of Halo games that was re-released for the Xbox back in 2014. From that point, 343 is going to springboard into adding more Halo games to PC, moving forward chronologically: They’re going to be starting with the prequel Halo: Reach and ending with Halo 4. Microsoft has said all the games will be available in the Master Chief Collection bundle, but will also be sold individually.

Halo Reach multiplayer
Halo: Reach introduced popular series mechanics such as the jetpack, assassinations, Invasion mode, and the DMR.

Microsoft and 343 Industries hinted that further information would be given at SXSW in Austin this past weekend at the Halo Invitational championship finals. While the info was not expressly about PC inclusion, they did reveal the launch of a new Halo Insider program, a community-based closed beta where fans can sign up for early access to the Halo Master Chief Collection on PC.

Halo Insider
Get an Insider account to provide feedback, get exclusive opportunities, and talk with the dev team!

343’s Community Manager Brian Jarrard said in a statement that “this is our way to bring the community on-board with this journey with us, to have a chance to get early access and play these titles on PC on Steam with us, and give feedback right to the development team.” For any Halo fans who want their voice to be heard during this period of time before Halo’s return to PC, speak now and speak often; the dev team is listening for feedback and bugs. “Fans want more than just a port,” says Jarrard, “and that’s really important.”

Halo 3 Bungie testing
Bungie employees hard at work on Halo 3’s multiplayer

Halo is one of the most popular shooter series for the gaming industry, and has been going strong even since their decision to market solely to the console crowd, selling over 65 million units and grossing more than $3 billion in sales. Microsoft is hopeful that by bringing the PC crowd back into the Halo fandom that they’ll be able to spur some community momentum towards the upcoming Halo: Infinite, which the company revealed back in June (no release date has been given yet, either).

Microsoft has not yet revealed when the upcoming games are set to launch on PC, but the company did promise it’s availability both on the Microsoft Store and on Steam. Which installment in the series are you most excited to play on PC? Let us know in the comments below, and stay tuned for more Halo updates!

Jeremy Milliner

Jeremy Milliner

Jeremy is an avid gamer, writer, musician, and instructor. He has been teaching for over 15 years, with his primary focus on music, and has written all manner of gaming articles, reviews, FAQs, walkthroughs, strategy guides, and even the odd screenplay or two. He has run the gamut of tech reviews, game guides, lifestyle content, and more. His focus as a writer is to give fair feedback of products, highlighting their strengths and weaknesses in a clear, concise, and entertaining manner.

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