Xbox confirmed on social media that Halo: Campaign Evolved has gone gold, meaning that the game has reached a complete state nearly two weeks ahead of its July 28 launch. However, the development team will continue ironing out any bugs or issues with Halo: Campaign Evolved in the meantime.
Initially revealed in October 2025 during the Halo World Championships, Halo: Campaign Evolved is the first title in the Halo franchise that will launch on a non-Microsoft platform. The PS5 will receive a port of Halo: Campaign Evolved alongside the PC and Xbox Series X/S versions. Although Halo: Campaign Evolved will not have PVP game modes at launch, Halo Studios' upcoming title will feature online and local co-op modes alongside solo play. Given the Halo franchise's rich history, Halo: Campaign Evolved is considered one of the top FPS games that will launch this summer.
Halo: Campaign Evolved is Officially Ready for Launch
Though Xbox titles like Fable have been delayed for the sake of development time, that will not be the case with Halo: Campaign Evolved. Xbox shared a short video to confirm that Halo: Campaign Evolved has officially gone gold just two weeks ahead of its July 28 launch date. Xbox also reiterated that the game's early access period begins Thursday, July 23, for users who pre-order Halo: Campaign Evolved Premium Edition for $69.99 on Xbox, Steam, or the PlayStation Store. Standard edition buyers must wait until Tuesday, July 28, to dive into Halo: Campaign Evolved. As an Unreal Engine 5 remake of 2001's Halo: Combat Evolved, the upcoming title from Microsoft will feature updated graphics and additional modifiers that can add some degree of challenge to the campaign.
Additionally, Halo: Campaign Evolved will include three new story missions that take place approximately one year before the events of Combat Evolved. Master Chief and Sgt. Johnson will team up to take down a Covenant research ship in Operation: Meteorite. During the June 2026 Xbox Games Showcase, Halo Studios teased that the prequel missions would have a heavy focus on Sgt. Johnson and include some new enemies and weapons from across the Halo franchise. Operation: Meteorite will be available once players boot up Halo: Campaign Evolved for the first time.
Image via Xbox Game Studios
Image via Xbox Game Studios
Despite the changes, Halo: Campaign Evolved has already been the subject of controversy ahead of launch. After reports stated that Halo: Campaign Evolved's split-screen co-op would require two PlayStation Plus accounts on PS5, Xbox clarified that that would not be the case. Instead, each player would only need a free PlayStation account to play Halo: Campaign Evolved's co-op mode on the PS5. On the other hand, Halo: Campaign Evolved's online co-op mode will require PlayStation Plus or Xbox Game Pass on the respective consoles, though cross-progression will also be available on all supported platforms.
The standard version of Halo: Campaign Evolved will also launch as a day-one title on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass. Given that Halo: Campaign Evolved is in a complete state two weeks ahead of its launch, the remaining development time ahead of early access can be spent on fixing any lingering bugs or issues with the game.
- Released
- July 28, 2026
- Developer(s)
- Halo Studios
- Publisher(s)
- Microsoft Studios
- Multiplayer
- Online Co-Op, Local Co-Op
- Cross-Platform Play
- Yes - all platforms
WHERE TO PLAY
- Genre(s)
- FPS, Science Fiction, Shooter, Multiplayer
