Microsoft and 343 Industries are pleased to announce today that Halo: Master Chief Collection will be coming to PC via the Windows Store and for the first time in the series – on Steam.
Halo: Master Chief Collection first launched back in 2014 for the Xbox One and since its release, it has received several improvements and upgrades over the years. Those who own an Xbox One X will be able to play the game in glorious 4K resolution with HDR. The games included in the collection are all of the Halo games that have been released: Halo, Halo 2, Halo 3, Halo and Halo ODST.
One of the new features that are coming to the PC version of Halo: Master Chief Collection is the inclusion of the critically acclaimed Halo: Reach.
Here’s what 343 Industries has to say in regards to the new announcement:
Later this year, these classic Halo experiences will start to arrive on PC via the Microsoft Store and, for the first time in the series – on Steam. This is an incredibly exciting opportunity for us to bring the Halo Universe and Master Chief’s story to a new audience and to offer PC gamers a chance to step into the franchise on the PC platform of their choice.The Master Chief’s arrival on PC will happen in stages with each title releasing one by one over time – giving the development teams the ability to ensure each one is right, while giving players a chance to jump in right away, rather than having to wait for the entire suite of games to be completed. Our current plan is for this journey to begin with the launch of Halo: Reach – the fictional beginnings of Master Chief’s saga – with the rest of the titles following in chronological order thereafter. Halo: Reach, Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST (Campaign), and Halo 4 will each be available for individual purchase within MCC as they become available. And each game will evolve and grow over time with community input.
For the team at 343 Industries, the most important and critical element of this project is ensuring that MCC delivers a true “first class” experience on PC. We’re embarking on a journey with our community to build a real PC experience that delivers on PC gamer expectations. The team is passionately committed to ensuring that all the features, bells, and whistles expected in a modern PC title are included with MCC. These features may vary somewhat by title, and we won’t get everything in there all at once – this is a product and an experience that will grow and evolve over time. We are laying the groundwork for PC native features such as excellent mouse and keyboard controls, support for multiple resolutions and aspect ratios, field-of-view sliders, and adjustable framerates, to name but a few. And yes, there will be support for Xbox gamepads and other PC controllers.
REMEMBER REACH
Along with “bring MCC to PC!” the next loudest refrain from Halo fans has been to “add Reach to MCC!” and we’re excited to make good on both requests later this year. As part of MCC, the prequel to Halo: Combat Evolved looks and plays better than ever and will arrive in slightly different ways depending on your platform of choice.MCC’s “Intelligent Delivery” feature on Xbox One allows players to pick and choose to install campaign and/or multiplayer content and Reach will be offered in the same way. On Xbox One specifically, Halo: Reach’s multiplayer content (which includes Forge and the Theater) will be automatically included for everyone who owns MCC while Halo: Reach’s Campaign and Firefight experiences will be offered together as a premium digital add-on. Xbox Game Pass subscribers will have access to the entirety of Halo: Reach within MCC as part of their subscription. Just like the rest of the titles in MCC, Halo: Reach is silky-smooth at 60FPS and visually stunning in 4K/HDR on compatible hardware.
Halo: Reach will look and play just as great when it lands on the Microsoft Store and Steam and include PC-specific features and options. Campaign, Multiplayer, and Firefight will come packaged together for purchase as the first step in this PC journey.
There’s currently no release date yet as to when exactly the game will be released on PC, but it should be sometime this year.