Summary
The rumored remake of the first title in Xbox’s esteemed sci-fi first-person shooter franchise,Halo: Combat Evolved, may be farther along in development than initially anticipated when rumors of the project first began cropping up earlier this year. Recently,Halodeveloper 343 Industries underwent a monumental change, renaming itself to Halo Studios, and announcing that its future projects will be developed using Epic Games' Unreal Engine 5 instead of its own in-house Slipspace engine that powersHalo Infinite. This news came a few months after the first reports of aHalo: Combat Evolvedremake.
Widely considered the most important game in Xbox’s 23-year history,Halo: Combat Evolvedkickstarted what would become one of the most essential first-person shooter franchises in the industry throughout the original Xbox and Xbox 360 generations. The game received a remaster in the form ofHalo: Combat Evolved Anniversaryten years later, which was also included inHalo: The Master Chief Collection, the 2014 anthology that alsointroducedHalo 2 Anniversary. DespiteHalo Infinite’s solid launch in 2021, post-launch support underwhelmed the community, though Halo Studios has made vast improvements since.
It seems fans looking to return to the glory days ofHalowon’t have to wait as long as initially thought for the rumoredHalo: Combat Evolvedremake to arrive. On a recent episode of the XboxEra Podcast, known insider Shpeshal_Nick talked about Halo Studios’ground-up remake of the originalHalo, saying it’s coming sooner than the initial rumors made it seem. He went on to clarify that he doesn’t believe it’s a 2025 game, insinuating the remake could be out sometime in 2026, though this is all just speculation.
Halo: Combat Evolved Remake May Be Closer Than Anticipated
It makes sense that Halo Studios would be further along in theHaloremake’s development, considering it’s been nearly three whole years sinceHalo Infinitewas released; the studio likely had this new project in the works alongside its ongoingHalo Infinitesupport. While it’s unknown exactly whenHalo Studios moved to Unreal Engine, it wouldn’t be surprising to learn that the rumoredCombat Evolvedremake is being built with it. The shift to Unreal also means Halo Studios won’t need to worry about its own reportedly troublesome Slipspace engine anymore, and will likely free the studio up to release smaller titles more frequently, like remakes, or experiences likeHalo 3: ODSTandHalo Reach, in between the larger mainline entries.
Halo Studios is continuing to add updates and new content toHalo Infinite, namely its limited time Operation: Halloween event, which is currently underway.Halo Infinitealso has a third-person modeplanned to arrive later this year. As for theHalo: Combat Evolvedremake, while Shpeshal_Nick doesn’t believe it to be a 2025 release, that doesn’t mean it won’t receive an official reveal sometime next year, soHalofans should stay tuned in to Halo Studios.
Halo: Combat Evolved
WHERE TO PLAY
Now optimized for PC, relive the spectacularly remastered edition of the original Halo campaign, created in celebration of the 10th anniversary of one of the most beloved franchises in gaming history. After crash-landing on a mysterious ringworld known as Halo, the Master Chief is tasked with helping the remaining humans survive against the overwhelming Covenant forces. While doing so, he and Cortana uncover Halo’s dark secret and fight to protect all life in the galaxy
