Halo is going back to where it all started. Microsoft and Halo Studios have officially announced Halo: Campaign Evolved—a complete, ground-up remake of the original Halo: Combat Evolved campaign—coming in 2026. Built in Unreal Engine 5, the remake promises a fresh look, smoother gameplay, and a few surprises for longtime fans and those playing the franchise for the first time.
Here’s everything you need to know, according to Xbox last week:
Halo: Campaign Evolved isn’t a remaster — it’s a complete remake of the first Halo campaign. The game is being rebuilt in Unreal Engine 5 with fully modernized 4K visuals, new animations, remastered audio, and re-recorded voice lines. Halo Studios says the goal is to preserve the “feel” of the 2001 classic while updating it for today’s consoles.
The game arrives in 2026 on Xbox Series X|S, PC (Steam, Microsoft Store), and for the first time ever, PlayStation 5. It’ll also support Xbox Cloud Gaming and Xbox Play Anywhere, and will launch day one on Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass.
The full Combat Evolved campaign returns, but Halo Studios is adding three new prequel missions that expand the story before the original game’s events. Expect new characters, enemies, and environments that tie directly into Halo’s lore.
New Weapons and Vehicles: You’ll now be able to use nine additional weapons from across the Halo series, including the Energy Sword, Battle Rifle, and Needle Rifle.
Vehicle Hijacking: Players can now hijack vehicles and even pilot the Covenant Wraith tank, something not possible in the original 2001 game.
Modern Controls: Sprinting is now an option — but you can turn it off if you prefer the classic feel.
The campaign supports both two-player split-screen on console and, for the first time, four-player online co-op across Xbox, PC, and PlayStation. Halo Studios says the new design rebalances missions and encounters to work seamlessly with more players.
Fan-favourite missions return — including The Library, which the team says has been carefully redesigned. Navigation, pacing, and enemy variety have been improved, and new dialogue for 343 Guilty Spark adds more context to the story.
Although Campaign Evolved runs on Unreal Engine 5, Halo Studios says the original game’s legacy gameplay systems are still in place under the hood. This approach keeps the “authentic Halo feel” while allowing for modern graphics and physics.
This remake marks the first time a mainline Halo title launches on PlayStation, signaling a new era for the franchise. It’s also the first major Halo release built entirely in Unreal Engine, a shift that could define how future Halo games are made.
Halo: Campaign Evolved isn’t just a nostalgia play—it’s a full reimagining of one of gaming’s most iconic shooters. With new missions, modern graphics, four-player co-op, and expanded story content, this could be the definitive way to experience the campaign that started it all. Who’s excited for this?
For those that didn’t know, back in 1999, Apple CEO Steve Jobs proudly showed off Halo: Combat Evolved on stage, calling it “one of the coolest” upcoming Mac games and teasing that it would launch the following year from developer Bungie. But things changed fast. In 2000, Microsoft bought Bungie—and with it, Halo. The game that was once meant to headline the Mac ended up becoming the killer app for the original Xbox instead.
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