Halo 3 available on PC starting July 14th

After many years of speculation, will they? Why won’t they? Halo: The Master Chief Collection is completing its offering on the PC platform in 2020. The majority of the franchise has already been released to PC. In prior years, only Halo and Halo 2 were available on the PC platform. Both were released well over a decade ago.

The studios 343 Industries, Ruffian Games, and Splash Damage worked on bringing all of The Master Chief Collection titles to PC. Starting July 14th, Halo 3 joins the roster of Master Chief Collection games available on that platform.

Halo 3 itself was officially released over 13 years ago on the Xbox platform. 343 Industries have hosted a few test runs for avid fans. Starting on July 14th, everyone is invited to join the war.

The importance of Halo 3 for the overall franchise is that it leads to the conclusion of the Combat Evolved story arc. Everyone’s favorite Master Chief is sent back to finish to save the galaxy from the Covenant and the Flood.

All of the following titles are slated to be available on PC by the end of 2020. Many have already been released.

Halo: Reach

Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary

Halo 2: Anniversary

Halo 3: ODST, without Firefight mode

Halo 3

Halo 4

All titles are available via Steam, Xbox Game Pass for PC, and the Microsoft Store. These titles join the previously released Halo: Reach and Halo CE. The games are being released in story order.

The studio’s re-platforming efforts have resulted in creating over 120 multiplayer maps and 67 campaigns and missions. They have created room for growth.

The studios went to extraordinary lengths to upgrade these Halo titles from older 30 FPS fixed Xbox 360 platforms to PC. Because of obvious platform differences, there are a few things that gamers should note. Because this collection is being offered on Steam, the 4K and HDR resolutions are part of the offering. However, there is no guarantee of the essential split-screen co-op mode...yet.

Their passion has paid off for fans of the franchise. Even though not all features are available, the teams have added a few things to enhance the gaming experience. Here is a shortlist of what the studios have done thus far just for Combat Evolved. They may be added to other titles, if possible.

Text chat

Ultra-wide and alternative resolution support

New Spartan customization 3D model viewer

Ability to toggle between Halo: Combat Evolved Classic and Halo: CEA audio for multiplayer mode

Mouse + Keyboard input support

Customizable key bindings

Experimental features are listed below.

Variable Frame Rate (VFR) support

Adjustable FOV

They will grow the map and campaign collections mentioned above over time. This evolution will include community input. There is not yet any clue as to how or when these user based recommendations will be adapted to the games.

Community input does not stop there. Though, as of this writing, custom modding is not exactly officially supported, the studios are actively encouraging players to work their mod magic. User-generated content has also been encouraged. This makes for a multitude of opportunities to play these games.

While gamers rejoice in being able to play their beloved titles on PC, not all of the Halo has been earmarked for PC. Halo 5 is still only available on Xbox One. Though its “Forge Bundle” is available in the Windows Store. The official latest game in the story is Halo Infinite. While it is the newest game in the series, it is not ready for prime time.

Players may still be able to take a look at Infinite this later month. The title will be making an appearance during the Xbox Games Showcase on July 23. It will be showcased alongside other Xbox Series X first-party games.