Halo 5: Guardians is still going to be an exclusive for the Xbox One, but the Forge mode will not be exclusive anymore. The map building tool will make the leap to Windows 10 users later this year as a free app.

APG Nation picked up the news from over on the official Halo Waypoint website where they revealed that Forge would be forging ahead for Windows 10 users. Could it be that this is what Microsoft was testing on Steam with Halo 3? Maybe, maybe not.

According to the post on the Halo Waypoint, Forge on Windows 10 will sport keyboard and mouse support, along with increased resolutions up to 4K, and the ability to build and save the maps on Windows 10 but publish them for Xbox One users. It’s a little like Apple’s relationship with the Chinese: they have them toil away in near slave-labor conditions but then sell their high-end products to Americans.

Anyway, UGC director at 343 Industries, Tom French, commented about Forge’s leap from the Xbox to the PC, writing…

“The team has continued to wonder what we’d get if we could put Forge in the hands of as many people as possible, and making it free on Windows 10 literally gives the chance to anyone who wants to jump in and try their hands at building a cool new map for Halo 5. I’m excited to see what the future content from the community will bring!”

If you want a small taste of what the Forge is capable of in Halo 5, check out the Forge race map below as featured on The Epidemic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MI3YAFA-vHU

The only drawback is the memory limitations. It’s a bit unfortunate that the map had to be so small due to the Xbox One’s memory limit, despite the fact that the console houses 8GB of RAM (three of which are reserved for system resources).

Anyway, there’s no official time stamp on when Forge will be available as a free Windows 10 app, but it is expected to arrive sometime later this year. If Microsoft didn’t rape your current OS and force Windows 10 on it, then if you’re a fan of Halo you could always just let it happen. If your PC has already been raped by Microsoft and your copy of Windows 7 or Windows 8 has been forcibly replaced with Windows 10, then you’re already good to go for experiencing the Halo 5 Forge later this year.

(Main image courtesy of the UNSC Veteran)