Halo: Campaign Evolved Gameplay Demo: UE5 Remake Hits Xbox, PC, and PS5 in 2026!

Halo fans, the ringworld calls once more! Halo Studios (formerly 343 Industries' campaign team) revealed Halo: Campaign Evolved over the weekend. It's a modernized UE5 remake of the 2001 classic's campaign, rebuilt from the ground up with high-definition visuals, refined controls, and expanded gameplay. Coming to Xbox Series X|S, PC (Steam/Xbox), and, wait for it, PlayStation 5 in 2026!

Campaign Evolved packs 13 missions total: the 10 original levels plus three new prequel adventures introducing fresh enemies, characters, environments, and dangers before the Pillar of Autumn crashes. Key upgrades include an arsenal blending CE weapons with nine Halo icons, vehicle hijacking (first-time Covenant Wraith piloting!), four-Spartan Warthogs, the most Skulls ever for remixing, remastered soundtrack, enhanced cinematics with mocap and returning voices, and co-op: 2-player split-screen on consoles or 4-player online everywhere.

And this wasn't just a teaser trailer, we have a video of the "The Silent Cartographer" demo level running on Xbox Series X, landing players on a Covenant-held island to secure the map room to Halo's Control Center. Halo has never looked better, check it out for yourself in the video below.

Watch the Halo: Campaign Evolved Silent Cartographer Demo on Youtube

Halo on PS5: A Platform-Shaking Milestone

Halo's PlayStation 5 debut is huge, this will be the series' first appearance on a rival console, and the latest step in Xbox's move away from exclusives and toward all multi-platform releases. For Xbox, it signals a bold evolution: since the Activision Blizzard acquisition, Microsoft has prioritized "play anywhere" via Game Pass over hardware lock-in, aiming to grow subscribers by releasing everywhere, including rival platforms. Microsoft's plan is to redefine Xbox as a service-first brand, and reach a far greater number of players. Of course, it could also be the beginning of Xbox becoming only a 3rd party publisher and moving out of the platform/hardware business.

it feels like Microsoft decided they had to change the game in order to have a chance at winning it

While it is exciting to see this gorgeous remake in action, and the prospect of playing Halo on a Playstation is surreal, it all still feels a little sad. Xbox started as a defiant jab at the industry leaders Nintendo and Sony. The brand really hit its stride in the Xbox 360 era by prioritizing players and bringing new game experiences to the table. Since then however, it has felt like a slow slide backwards, and this announcement feels more like the end of something, than the beginning.

We'll have to wait and see how it all plays out for Xbox. Maybe there is a way for them to transition into something more like Steam, where they control the platform but allow all kinds of hardware to access it. Maybe the concept of a 'console maker' that we have had since the 80's is in need of a refresh? In the end, it feels like Microsoft decided they had to change the game in order to have a chance at winning it. Let's see how long, and in what form, they are able to keep playing.

Halo: Campaign Evolved is coming to Xbox, PS5, and PC sometime in 2026. Keep your targets locked on GameMinr.com for the latest on all the best games.