Thanks to Microsoft’s Xbox Play Anywhere initiative, Xbox exclusive games have become pretty much a rarity in recent years. There aren’t many Xbox One games you can’t play on PC these days, but there are still some games released in the early days of the Xbox One that have yet to get a PC port. And unfortunately for Halo fans, Halo 5: Guardians, the first original Halo game created by 343 Industries, is one of them.
Halo 5 was released in October 2015, just a couple of months after the official release of Windows 10. Skipping a Windows 10 release always seemed odd, as a Halo 5: launching on the Microsoft could have been a great way to reluctant PC gamers on board of the the Windows 10 ship. This absence felt even more bizarre after 343 teased Windows users with Halo 5: Forge, a powerful level editor that even lets you try them with your friends on PC.
343 Industries never confirmed that they were working on Halo 5 PC port, but a recent packaging change for the Xbox One game could give PC gamers some hope. Indeed, as spotted by Twitter user AllGamesDelta (via Digital Trends), physical copies of Halo 5 now come with a new “Xbox One console exclusive” banner, which replaced the previous “Only on Xbox One” formula.
New Halo 5 boxart hints at incoming PC release https://t.co/W0XQGKxWVr pic.twitter.com/98fbidOaRs
— AllGamesDelta (@AllGamesDelta_) September 9, 2018
This is a subtle change, but a game that goes from Xbox One exclusive to “Xbox One console exclusive” can basically make its way to PC, if this is what 343 Industries wants. So far, the developer has never confirmed that a Halo 5 PC port was in the works, but there are several reasons to be optimistic.
While discussing the new update for Halo: The Master Chief Collection earlier this year, 343 Industries said that it heard “loud and clear” Halo fans wanting to see the Xbox One anthology being released on PC. The teasing went on in April when the developer said that it was “very excited about the prospects of an official classic Halo experience making its way to PC,” adding that it was open to the idea of working with modders like the team behind the unofficial (and now shut down) “Halo Online” project.
Last but not least, Halo: Infinite, the next episode in 343 Industries’ Reclaimer trilogy is being developed for both the Xbox One and Windows 10 PCs. This game still has no release date, and making previous episodes on available on PC would be the perfect way to get the Halo franchise back into the conversation in the meantime.
