Halo: Campaign Evolved launches July 28, 2026 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC, ending 25 years as a Microsoft platform exclusive and placing the franchise on Sony hardware for the first time in its history.
The game is a full remake of Halo: Combat Evolved (2001), built by Halo Studios (the rebranded 343 Industries) in Unreal Engine 5. All ten original missions have been reconstructed with updated visuals, re-recorded voice performances, and revised cinematics. Level design has been updated to incorporate mechanics and weapons introduced across later entries in the franchise, making Campaign Evolved a substantial reimagining rather than a straight remaster.
New Story: Operation METEORITE
The most significant new addition is Operation: METEORITE, a three-mission prequel arc included in every edition of the game at no extra cost. Set one year before the original game’s events, it follows Master Chief and Sergeant Avery Johnson infiltrating a Covenant agricultural ship orbiting a destroyed human colony. The story was developed in collaboration with Troy Denning, a novelist who has contributed substantially to the Halo extended universe through a long run of tie-in fiction.
Operation: METEORITE is designed as an on-ramp for new players. Along with new briefing sequences and expanded codec dialogue throughout the main campaign, it gives players who have never encountered the franchise enough context to follow the story without needing to read supplementary material first.
Multiplayer, Pricing, and Platforms
The full campaign supports up to four players online, with full cross-platform play and cross-progression across PS5, Xbox, and PC. Console versions include two-player local split-screen. There is no competitive multiplayer; Campaign Evolved is a campaign and co-op release only.
The Standard Edition is priced at $49.99. The Premium Edition ($69.99) adds five days of early access beginning July 23. The game is included at launch on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass.
Why This Release Matters
The PlayStation debut is the real headline. Microsoft has brought several formerly Xbox-exclusive titles to PS5 over the past two years, and the business logic is consistent: Game Pass subscriptions and PC sales are where Microsoft now earns its software revenue, and restricting titles to Xbox hardware limits that reach. Halo is the most prominent franchise yet to make this move.
For PlayStation players new to the series, Campaign Evolved is explicitly designed as a starting point. Whether it fully satisfies series veterans who have played the original campaign multiple times is a more open question. The creative director has described it as drawing on “the Halo simulation built up over 25 years” while adding new elements to bring the game in line with contemporary shooter expectations. Reviews, which are not yet available, will test that claim.