Over the past few years, I’ve been keeping track of all news coming from Microsoft and other sources that may relate to the release of a post-Halo 2 Halo game coming to PC. Here are my compiled speculations for Halo Master Chief Collection for PC
2013
Throughout the year of 2013, the initial spike in interest of the release of a newer Halo game on PC arose.
There were numerous reports talking about finding a mention of “halo3.exe” in the beta AMD driver build at the time, which you can see in the comments section as mentioned by “iBloxman,” someone who will later help tip me information about this topic. We became pretty good friends and still talk, on a side note.
There was a Steam database item created called Halo 3 and with it were other Xbox-exclusive titles. After this was released to the public and reported on, the names were changed to basic DB titles.
Since then, there have been updates made to the items with the latest for this specific app being October 2015. Its last known name is still Halo 3.
As a final roundup of information, some of the things previously stated are said here again (since I created a new channel that same year) but with a couple bits of compiled info.
In conclusion, 2013 was a big year that spiked a lot of concern and outlook over this possible project. However, to debunk a couple points, we notice that since the Xbox One uses an AMD chip which could have used special drivers for testing while the One was still in development.
This can explain the AMD driver news. Next, the SteamDB app has not been updated in a long time and nothing’s come out of it since its actual upbringing. And finally, the 3rd-person idea was probably simply towards the development of what we know today as Halo Online, just probably an early, experimental version.
Though, we’re still not sure about what’s happening with Certain Affinity and this plausible project…
2014
2014 was an extremely quiet year for this topic. Literally nothing happened, except maybe this article. Though, now at this time we learned about the release of Halo 5 and the Master Chief Collection. This alleviated a lot of concern that people had about 360 Halo games’ future. Halo 1, 2, and 3 were being released with upgraded graphics, resolution, and framerate for the Xbox One.
This pretty much destroys the evidence of the leaked AMD driver code. It can 99% be confirmed that the “halo3.exe” name was being used for the development of special drivers for the Xbox One, as it could have been one of the games tested (which makes complete sense.)
Hype quieted down for the possible release of newer Halo games on PC until the release of Halo: Spartan Assault and Spartan Strike on Steam. The thought that Microsoft actually may want to work with PC, or at least wanted to understand its market, was brought up.
2015
Windows 10 was released with DirectX 12. This is big, as the introduction of this new API could have been a significant reason why Halo 3 on a new system would have been delayed so long.
And, of course, Spartan Strike was released.
This was the year where Halo Online became a thing. If you don’t already know, Microsoft licensed a Russian game development studio to create what was supposed to be a free-to-play Halo multiplayer game exclusive to PC. However, it was only available in Russia. Microsoft said this is because they wanted to explore the European market, but I think there is probably a more secretive reasoning.
Of course, people from around the world gained access to the Halo Online servers through VPNs. Later, a version of the entire game was made available in the US (by modders) and was given its own servers. With a new build of the game being released leaking the entire Halo 3 engine along with many of its multiplayer maps and game assets, such as UI, users began creating their own experiences using what they could.
I was able to play Halo Online and enjoy it in 1080p 60fps with better graphics than the original. You can too! Check out the HaloOnline subreddit to download and play. There are mods available that can make your game look like the original Halo 3, but it does not completely alter everything.
2016
2016 brought some new info and speculation that may be the biggest upbringing of news since 2013.
Phil Spencer, head of the Xbox division of Microsoft, stated (in paraphrase) that he is looking to be able to merge the Xbox and Windows 10 platforms for new releases of games. And, per this, the coming of the ability to purchase a game on Xbox and gain a free copy of it on PC. That’s pretty sweet!
Around this same time, Gears of War (Ultimate Edition), the remake of a well-known Xbox exclusive, was put onto the Microsoft Windows 10 store and boasted many new features which are native to PC gamers: unlocked refresh rate, DirectX 12, upgraded graphics, adjustable field of view, and more… Here, too, the release of Forza 5 was announced for Xbox and PC (another Xbox exclusive!).
Final Thoughts
So, here I am sitting by my desk on March 27, 2016. I’ve been researching this topic for years, and the release of Halo: MCC on PC may be imminent. There’s been a lot of news, and I’m hoping to see many amazing things throughout the rest of this year.
Imagine seeing (for example) Halo 4 on PC with better graphics, higher framerate, higher field of view, and more competitive multiplayer… A dream many people have had for a long time. It might just only be a bit longer until this becomes a reality (E3, maybe? I hope they’re preparing for something big!).
Leave your thoughts in the comments below and don’t forget to follow me on social media for more updates! Thanks for reading.
