Summer is here and Microsoft and 343 Industries are celebrating with some big Halo news. Not only will Halo 5 be getting an upgrade for the new Xbox One X, a bunch of older Halo games are coming to the Xbox One via Backward Compatibility.
This news comes from a post on the official Halo website. “Many Halo fans were quick to note that Halo 5 was conspicuously absent from the list of games being given the 4K treatment,” the post reads. “The team here at 343 always had a desire to bring players the best Halo 5 experience for Xbox One X, but we weren’t quite ready to make the announcement during the E3 time frame.”
Developer 343 Industries confirmed that Halo 5 will get a 4k update for the Xbox One X. No release information was given for when the update will go live, but it will likely be around when the Xbox One X is released in November.
Additionally, four Halo games will join the list of Backward Compatible games for Xbox One. Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST and Halo 4 will all come to the program “later this year.” As of now, Halo: Reach, Halo: Spartan Assault and Halo Wars are already available to play with Backward Compatibility.
The multiplayer for these Halo games will also be completely opened up. Once the four new Halo games are added to Backward Compatibility, all Xbox 360 Halo map packs will be made free to download in the Xbox Store. This will make sure the online community doesn’t get split up based on what map packs each gamer has. As an extra bonus, these games will also support LAN play between Xbox One and Xbox 360.
No release time was given for when Halo: CE Anniversary, Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST and Halo 4 will be made Backward Compatible, but the post mentions those attending RTX Austin will be able to play Halo 3 and Halo 3: ODST on an Xbox One. Seeing as how that convention starts tomorrow, hopefully this means the games will be going live sooner rather than later.
Microsoft also has more plans in the works for Halo Wars 2, a Halo comic series, a Halo novel and even a special Halo Loot Crate all coming in the next few months. For all the Halo updates, check out the post on Halo Waypoint and follow @Halo on Twitter.
So what do you think? Are you excited to see Halo 5 running in 4K? Will you be revisiting any of the older Halo games when they become available on Xbox One? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
