Halo is coming to PC

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:

Halo: The Master Chief Collection – with the addition of Halo: Reach – is coming to PC later this year on @windowsstore & @steam_games. Learn more about our journey to bring these legendary Halo experiences to your computer: https://t.co/hES6PG2Z7n pic.twitter.com/5bc8uXu6KV

— Halo (@Halo) March 12, 2019

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.

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.

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 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!