During the first day of Xboxâs big Halo esports event, a previously rumored remake of the original Halo: Combat Evolved leaked ahead of a reported announcement. And surprise, surprise, after over two decades of being an Xbox-only series, Halo is making the leap to PlayStation in 2026.
Â
This new remake, officially titled Halo: Campaign Evolved, was previously teased at last yearâs HWCS via a tech demo that looked to contain remade assets from Halo CE. There have also been multiple reports of this newly announced remake of the very first Halo game, which is the first new game from Halo Studios since 2021âs Halo Infinite. Despite positive reviews, the open-world spin on Halo failed to achieve the long-term success that Xbox had hoped for. Two years later, the studio suffered layoffs in 2023 and was then completely rebranded in 2024. The studio has also ditched Halo Infiniteâs custom-made engine, Slipstream, and is now using Unreal Engine 5.
Hereâs What The New Halo Remake Looks Like In Action
Halo: Campaign Evolved is a totally different game from the Halo: Combat Evolved remaster we got back on the Xbox 360. As seen in this extended gameplay trailer, which Xbox published shortly after the store page went live, this is a brand new game based on the OG title with incredible visuals and new features. According to a preview from Rolling Stone, Campaign Evolved doesnât feature any competitive multiplayer modes. It will support two-player split screen and four-player online co-op, though.
In the gameplay video above, we see someone playing through one of the gameâs best levels, The Silent Cartographer. And at the end of that 13-minute gameplay trailer, itâs confirmed this upcoming remake of the classic FPS is coming to PlayStation 5 as well as Game Pass, Xbox Series X/S, PC, and Xbox Cloud. What a world we live in. Forza, Gears of War, and now Halo are all PlayStation games. Wild. The game will support both crossplay and cross progression across all platforms.
According to Microsoft, as confirmed in a livestream during the Halo esports event, âgoing forward,â Halo will be on PlayStation. This seems to indicate that all future Halo games (and maybe past games) will ship on both Xbox and PlayStation. And Halo Studios teased this further, quoting the Master Chief in a post about the new remake: Â âI think weâre just getting started.â
The New Stuff Being Added To Halo: Campaign Evolved
In a PlayStation Blog post from Halo community director Brian âske7châ Jarrard, he welcomed PS5 gamers to the Halo universe and outlined some of the new content being added to this remade version of the 2001 classic. This remake features improved combat and nine new weapons, with some pulled from other Halo games. It also includes âthree brand-new prequel missions starring the Master Chief and Sgt. Johnson.â According to both the PlayStation post and Xbox store listing, these missions are âset before the events of Halo: Combat Evolvedâ and will add ânew environments, gameplay, and charactersâ to the remake.
Players will be able to hijack vehicles, a feature introduced in Halo 2, in this new remake. This means you can even hijack the powerful Wraith tanks and drive them around, something that wasnât possible in the first Halo. This new version of Halo also contains the largest number of âSkullsâ in the franchiseâs history, letting players remix missions with various effects, like, yes, the Grunt Birthday Party skull. Oh, and you can sprint now in the remake, though Halo Studios confirms that the feature can be disabled.
In an Xbox blog post, it was confirmed that Halo: Campaign Evolved is running on Unreal Engine 5 and will support 4K visuals and include updated animations, remastered music, and re-recorded voice lines. âThe campaign has been rebuilt to feel handcrafted and immersive, true to what players remember, not just visually, but emotionally,â explained the gameâs executive producer, Damon Conn.
Halo: Campaign Evolved is set to launch in 2026 on Xbox, PS5, and PC.
