Microsoft and 343 Industries announced that for the first time ever the Halo: Master Chief Collection will be released on Steam for PC. A release date wasn’t posted but it is said to be coming soon to Steam.
The news was rolled out over on the Steam app page for the game, which reveals that 343 Industries worked with Splash Damage to port the anthology to PC, which will include Halo: Reach, Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, Halo 2: Anniversary, Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST and Halo 4.
It’s a huge bit of news that will likely have fans wishlisting the collection immediately. Heck, I just wishlisted it right now.
The package will contain all of the campaign missions, multiplayer maps, and customization, with the store page reading…
“Honoring the iconic hero and his epic journey, The Master Chief’s story is brought together with a total of 67 campaign missions plus more than 120 multiplayer maps (including the original Halo Combat Evolved maps) and Spartan Ops maps. Now built for PC with mouse and keyboard support and up to 4K UHD and HDR, this is the collection Halo fans have been waiting for!”
According to the Xbox News wire, each game will be released piecemeal, as Microsoft claims they will need time to iron out the kinks and make sure it works right proper on PC. And since Halo: Reach is being added to the mix, Microsoft will be retroactively enabling the multiplayer content and Forge mode for those who own the game on Xbox One. You can also add the campaign mode from Halo: Reach to the Xbox One for a premium price.
This isn’t the first time that Halo as a series has appeared on PC. The original game was made available on PC along with the OG Xbox release back in 2001, and Halo 2 was a Windows Vista exclusive alongside launching on the OG Xbox back in 2004.
This also confirms that the rumors were true about Halo games appearing on the SteamDB several years ago. Microsoft really was working with 343 and Splash Damage to port the games to Steam.
In fact, the listing for the game first appeared back in August of 2014, five years ago, just before #GamerGate got underway.
Two years later, in May of 2016, Microsoft would make Halo 5’s Forge mode available for Windows 10 users, allowing them to create and share maps with Xbox One users.
And now, Steam users will finally be able to play the Halo: Master Chief Collection with full 4K UHD support and unlimited frame-rates, along with all of the good Halo games before they got stifled with creative ruination with the release of Halo 5.
As mentioned, there’s no release date on the collection just yet, but the info is coming soon.
(Thanks for the news tip s_fnx)
