The Halo remake is headed to PlayStation in a major exclusivity shift

[Skye Jacobs]

Looking ahead: Microsoft will release its remake of Halo: Combat Evolved on PC and PlayStation 5. The iconic exclusive joins titles like Forza and Gears of War in crossing over, marking another step in Xbox's vision to let players play where they play and challenging an exclusivity paradigm Redmond calls "antiquated."

For more than two decades, the Halo series has stood as a defining property for Microsoft's gaming business – its green-armored protagonist synonymous with the Xbox brand. That connection will soon change. Microsoft confirmed that a remake of the original Halo: Combat Evolved will launch on PlayStation 5 in 2026, expanding the franchise beyond Xbox for the first time since its debut in 2001.

The new release, titled Halo: Campaign Evolved, is a full remake built for modern consoles and PC. It includes newly developed prequel missions that expand the story leading into the 2001 game, as well as reworked environments, enhanced lighting and textures, and a completely overhauled audio mix.

The game supports split-screen cooperative play and introduces new weapons and mobility systems, such as sprinting, though it will not include a multiplayer component. The remake is in development for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Windows PC.

The title's move to PlayStation reflects Microsoft's broader rethinking of how it distributes its games. Earlier this year, the company announced it would make key Xbox franchises available on competing platforms, reversing a strategy that for decades emphasized exclusivity as a central part of the brand. The policy shift follows internal efforts to grow profits within the Xbox division, which continues to show steady but slower growth compared to Microsoft's software and cloud businesses.

Several of Microsoft's most popular properties have already crossed into PlayStation's ecosystem. Gears of War: Reloaded debuted on PlayStation in August, followed by the release of Forza Horizon 5 earlier this year. Another title, Microsoft Flight Simulator 24, is expected to arrive on PS5 in December. There are also rumors that a Fable remake will hit the rival console.

Despite loosening its exclusivity policy, Microsoft still maintains limited timing advantages for Xbox players. Xbox president Sarah Bond has described the concept of platform exclusivity as "antiquated," arguing that players now expect major games to be available wherever they play rather than being tied to one console. Forza Horizon 6, for instance, will launch first as an Xbox timed-exclusive in 2026 before becoming available on PlayStation at a later date.

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The Halo remake is headed to PlayStation in a major exclusivity shift

 

[The Talking Tech]

Halo, the most iconic franchise Xbox is known for is heading to PlayStation.

That's Microsoft spitting in the face of millions of Xbox gamers for their support and loyalty to the franchise that once they were promised to be "Only on Xbox"

 

[Kirby1]

Super excited for this. Halo 1 is the best of all the Halo games.

 

[Subset6]

Watched the game play video earlier today, looks nice! Of all the MCC games this one would benefit the most from a full on remake. Curious how MS will handle this, standalone or scraping the remaster on the MCC and integrating this? Guess's we'll get the details later.

 

[Kirby1]

Watched the game play video earlier today, looks nice! Of all the MCC games this one would benefit the most from a full on remake. Curious how MS will handle this, standalone or scraping the remaster on the MCC and integrating this? Guess's we'll get the details later.

This is definitely stand alone.

 

[Megalomaniac]

Truth be told, they messed Halo up exactly like they messed up Crysis.

Halo and Crysis were both true PC games designed for PC players. Mostly designed for exploration without hand holding.

Halo 2 and Crysis 2 were both built for the consoles. Both interjected a true multiplayer. Both interjected alien lore and convoluted story.

Halo 3 and Crysis 3 both got as much back to the basics as possible.

 

[m4a4]

Love to see it. There is just no pro-consumer reason to keep up with exclusives or walled gardens in this digital video game age.

 

[human7]

Halo, the most iconic franchise Xbox is known for is heading to PlayStation.

That's Microsoft spitting in the face of millions of Xbox gamers for their support and loyalty to the franchise that once they were promised to be "Only on Xbox"

I doubt many players feel like they need exclusives to buy a console these days.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Why? We already have the original. And the HD remaster. And the MCC release.

Why do we need halo 1 as a remake? More importantly, after nothing but disasters, why does anyone have any excitement over this one being any good? Even if it isn't crap....it's the same game we've had for 24 years already. And we know it will be crap, does anyone think MS has the ability to match the original teams passion? That the random, but progressively harder, AI that adapta to different situations will be implemented as the original was?

Greed and laziness. Don't buy this, just get the MCC collection and play the original Bungie vision.

 

[The Talking Tech]

I doubt many players feel like they need exclusives to buy a console these days.

So you must be one of the following:

- A PlayStation / Nintendo gamer that see this as an opportunity to benefit from Xbox.

Or

- a PC gamer that never cared for console exclusivity as it never has affected you.

So which one are you?...Because if you were an Xbox gamer you wouldn't be saying that.

 

[human7]

So you must be one of the following:

- A PlayStation / Nintendo gamer that see this as an opportunity to benefit from Xbox.

Or

- a PC gamer that never cared for console exclusivity as it never has affected you.

So which one are you?...Because if you were an Xbox gamer you wouldn't be saying that.

False dichotomy. There have been console exclusives (titles that only come to PC years later or never do), there are other titles that used to be Xbox exclusives, and there are titles that used to be PS exclusives now available on PC and Xbox. The era of exclusivity has been eroding for half a decade now, perhaps longer. Anyone who recently bought a console primarily for exclusives was making a bet - one that is no longer worth making. Not sure where this hate is coming from, it's not as if XBox players don't get access to this game - they do, on their console.

If you want to be mad about this of all things, fine, just don't buy the next Xbox.

 

[ScottSoapbox]

This is a release week purchase for me *assuming* it’s in a good state.

Very excited but preorders can’t be trusted.

 

[bandit8623]

This is a release week purchase for me *assuming* it’s in a good state.

Very excited but preorders can’t be trusted.

preorders are never a good bet.. its not like the game is going anywhere.

 

[candle86]

So you must be one of the following:

- A PlayStation / Nintendo gamer that see this as an opportunity to benefit from Xbox.

Or

- a PC gamer that never cared for console exclusivity as it never has affected you.

So which one are you?...Because if you were an Xbox gamer you wouldn't be saying that.

My guy it's a console and Xbox undersells PlayStation massively Microsoft's going to make money.

 

[The Talking Tech]

False dichotomy. There have been console exclusives (titles that only come to PC years later or never do), there are other titles that used to be Xbox exclusives, and there are titles that used to be PS exclusives now available on PC and Xbox. The era of exclusivity has been eroding for half a decade now, perhaps longer. Anyone who recently bought a console primarily for exclusives was making a bet - one that is no longer worth making. Not sure where this hate is coming from, it's not as if XBox players don't get access to this game - they do, on their console.

If you want to be mad about this of all things, fine, just don't buy the next Xbox.

"The era of exclusives has been eroding????"

Tell that to Nintendo and you would see a slap in the face coming to you faster than you can say that again.

Exclusive products is and always will be a key factor for people to choose a brand over another no matter the type of business.

Just because Sony panicked and started eroding their own exclusives just like Xbox has it does not mean it's an "eroding" strategy, it just that Sony and Microsoft has very poor judgement driven by panic and defeat.

 

[bviktor]

Finally.

But also do the same with Halo 2-3-4. And quick!

 

[bviktor]

I doubt many players feel like they need exclusives to buy a console these days.

Exclusives are the one and only reason why I own a PS5.

And the one and only reason why I sold my Xbox.

 

[Subset6]

I think folks tend to forget the value of modern consoles like the ps5. Pretty sure they are still the best gaming value per dollar you can get. No way you could kit out a PC to match a ps5 for $500/600. That in my mind is were they excel, exclusive’s to a lesser extent.

 

[human7]

"The era of exclusives has been eroding????"

Tell that to Nintendo and you would see a slap in the face coming to you faster than you can say that again.

Exclusive products is and always will be a key factor for people to choose a brand over another no matter the type of business.

Just because Sony panicked and started eroding their own exclusives just like Xbox has it does not mean it's an "eroding" strategy, it just that Sony and Microsoft has very poor judgement driven by panic and defeat.

I didn't say that the era of exclusives was over, but it is eroding. Sure, Nintendo is still pursuing the exclusive strategy, but the others aren't. Many outlets have run articles on this, so it's hardly new or surprising:

Console-exclusive AAA games are dead (or dying)

Nintendo is the exception, as usual... but for how long?

www.polygon.com

Xbox President Says Console Exclusives Are "Antiquated"

Xbox exclusives are a dying breed, according to Xbox's President, who thinks the concept is becoming antiquated and players don't want it.

insider-gaming.com

Console Exclusives Are Dying Out, And That's Okay

Microsoft is moving away from console exclusivity, and hopefully setting a precedent.

www.cbr.com

Exclusive products used to be the key factor, but I disagree that they will continue to be, at least not on the Xbox/Sony side of the industry, and certainly not for AAA games. One of the reasons Nintendo can continue its strategy is because its brand doesn't depend on $100 million+ blockbuster AAA budgets with top tier graphics.

The companies that do make those kinds of games have to sell as many copies as possible, and that means getting them into as many hands as possible, regardless of platform.

Rockstar, for example, may not have the same pressure to publish on both console and PC immediately despite the budget because everyone expects GTA VI to be bought en mass by default, but they don't limit themselves to one console, and they do move their games to PC eventually. Most studios don't have that luxury or assumption, so the console exclusivity or choosing one brand of consoles doesn't make sense any more.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Finally.

But also do the same with Halo 2-3-4. And quick!

The MCC already exists, and has existed for a decade now.

I think folks tend to forget the value of modern consoles like the ps5. Pretty sure they are still the best gaming value per dollar you can get. No way you could kit out a PC to match a ps5 for $500/600. That in my mind is were they excel, exclusive’s to a lesser extent.

It's not that hard to do. A 9060xt will give you a better experience then a PS5, and you can grab fully functional business desktops online for under $300. Pop the 9060 in and presto, instant gaming PC!

Plus if you want to talk about "value", the PC has a backlog of available titles literally decades long, the ability to run the entire PS1/2 library (which the PS5 cant do) along with most other consoles 6th gen and earlier, constant sales from multiple marketplaces, ece. Sony guys are out here spending $70, 80, or more on a single slop title, whereas on PC you can go to a single Steam sale and buy a small library of fantastic A+ quality games that will take you months to complete. Doesnt take long for that Playstation's value to fade.

And most importantly, flexibility! If a game runs poorly you can adjust visual settings or use community mods. On console, you are just stuck with whatever garbage devs put out. You get a game like JC3 that physically slows down with the framerate, you are just stuck with it. You get a broken game like NV on the PS3, you're just stuck with it. So many console games now cant even maintain 30 FPS, use forced PSSR degrading visual quality, and still get outdone by medium settings on a typical PC.

The PC is easily the best value in the space, which is why PC spending is now larger then all consoles combined, and the steam active user base is several times larger then the playstation and xbox combined.

False dichotomy. There have been console exclusives (titles that only come to PC years later or never do), there are other titles that used to be Xbox exclusives, and there are titles that used to be PS exclusives now available on PC and Xbox. The era of exclusivity has been eroding for half a decade now, perhaps longer. Anyone who recently bought a console primarily for exclusives was making a bet - one that is no longer worth making. Not sure where this hate is coming from, it's not as if XBox players don't get access to this game - they do, on their console.

If you want to be mad about this of all things, fine, just don't buy the next Xbox.

The primary reason "exclusives are eroding" is that both Sony and MS have been guilty of jumping down the modern slop rabbit hole, ruining old franchises and hyperfocusing on lowest common denominator "action adventure" games they pump WAY too much money into (oh hi there concord). Their studios are struggling to break 10 million copies sold on their ever more expensive games, as their politically charged employees destroy what is left of their fanbases. MS and Sony are abandoning exclusivity because they need PC sales to support their bloated carcasses though the next generation, not because its a gold mine for them.

Meanwhile, Nintendo is over here casually selling 68 MILLION copies of mario kart 8 on the switch. Exclusivity still works fine when you make good games, as it turns out.

 

[Liljonny11]

I'm hoping they are starting with this one because they are doing all of them. But it's absolutely criminal that Halo 3 never got a remaster or reach.

 

[candle86]

"The era of exclusives has been eroding????"

Tell that to Nintendo and you would see a slap in the face coming to you faster than you can say that again.

Exclusive products is and always will be a key factor for people to choose a brand over another no matter the type of business.

Just because Sony panicked and started eroding their own exclusives just like Xbox has it does not mean it's an "eroding" strategy, it just that Sony and Microsoft has very poor jgement driven by panic and defe

Who cares what Nintendo does as far as I'm concerned their console for 6-year-olds. Which was I guess always kind of their market but I don't really see adults playing with the switch all the time I know they do but the big market I see for the switch is elementary age kids as far a Nintendo exclusives who cares it's not like Nintendo makes anything good I haven't had a Nintendo console since the Nintendo 64 and I can honestly say I don't feel like I've missed out on anything. The last good Nintendo exclusive was GoldenEye 64.

 

[amstech]

Who cares what Nintendo does as far as I'm concerned their console for 6-year-olds. Which was I guess always kind of their market but I don't really see adults playing with the switch all the time I know they do but the big market I see for the switch is elementary age kids as far a Nintendo exclusives who cares it's not like Nintendo makes anything good I haven't had a Nintendo console since the Nintendo 64 and I can honestly say I don't feel like I've missed out on anything. The last good Nintendo exclusive was GoldenEye 64.

Breathe of the Wild is one of the best gaming experiences anyone will ever have.

 

[candle86]

Breathe of the Wild is one of the best gaming experiences anyone will ever have.

I highly doubt that, I played some of the Zelda games including the first one on the NES and I played ocarina of Time both suck.

 

[amstech]

I highly doubt that, I played some of the Zelda games including the first one on the NES and I played ocarina of Time both suck.