The recent Halo Championship Series at SXSW 2019 gave developer 343 Industries an opportunity to give us some new information about the upcoming release of Halo: MCC on PC.
First of all, we learned that the PC version won’t support cross play with Xbox One at launch. Halo: MCC also won’t become an Xbox Play Anywhere game, though 343 Industries is looking at ways to reward owners of the Xbox One version.
This morning, Halo Community Director Brian Jarrard and lead producer Michael Fahrny answered many fan questions about the PC version of Halo: MCC during a Reddit AMA session. You can check out all of 343 Industries’ answers on this page, but we’ve listed the main highlights below:
- Windows versions support: If the Microsoft Store version of Halo: MCC will only work on Windows 10 PCs, the Steam version will support both Windows 10 and Windows 7, with Windows 8 “still being investigated.”
- Crossplay support: 343 Industries reiterated today that PC players who buy the game on the Microsoft Store and Steam will all be able to play together. As for cross play with Xbox One players, “it’s not something we’re currently committing to at launch but it is top of mind and the team is actively investigating this,” 343 Industries said.
- Cross-progression between Xbox One and PC: Even though there won’t be cross play multiplayer between Xbox One and PC, Microsoft will implement cross-progression between the two platforms. “All stats, achievements, Forged maps, and game variants will be shared between all of the games within MCC. Mid mission saves will be unique to each platform and cannot be shared,” the team explained.
- Multiplayer servers: Just like on Xbox One, all games in the collection will use dedicated servers for matchmaking. 343 Industries won’t support community-hosted dedicated servers at launch.
- Mod support: There won’t be mod support at launch, though 343 Industries remains open to the idea. “We are working closely with the members of the modding community (including some friends on the ElDewrito team) to explore our options for “official” mod support, but we won’t have this at launch. Our #1 priority for launch is ensuring we get each of these core games “right” for PC and security/anti-cheat is a big focus,” the team explained.
- PC Settings: 343 Industries is committed to support uncapped FPS in each title of the collection, as well as FOV-sliders and 144hz+ refresh rates. However, customisation options could vary slighly by title. The team also plans to support various windowed modes including: 21:9, 16:9, 16:10, 3:2, and 4:3.
- Local split screen on PC: Unfortunately, this won’t be supported at launch. “This one is tricky and the team is still looking at what can be supported,” 343 Industries said.
- Halo Reach multiplayer: Unlocks and progression from the Xbox 360 game won’t carry carry over to MCC on Xbox One and Windows 10, but 343 Industries plan to keep the original game’s progression mechanisms and customization options. “As to how it’s earned, we are exploring a new and deeper progression system that retains the feel of the old systems and blends them with newer models for game progression (all based on in-game play, no type of monetization or anything of that nature),” the team explained.
- Halo 5 coming to PC: “Our focus is bringing MCC and Reach to PC, there are no current plans to bring over Halo 5,” the team said.
Unfortunately, there’s still no ETA for the launch of Halo Reach on PC and Xbox One, or pricing details about Halo: MCC on PC. However, 343 Industries reiterated tday that players will be able purchase each title one-by-one when they’re released, or wait until the collection is complete to buy the full bundle. “We don’t have any plans for a ‘season pass’ model,” the team said today.
If you haven’t done it yet, we invite you to join the new Halo Insider Program today to have the chance to get early access to MCC on PC and share feedback with the team.
Further reading: 343 Industries, Halo, Halo The Master Chief Collection, Reddit AMA, Video Games
