Halo: The Master Chief Collection is officially coming to PC

Master Chief Collection
Image credit: Microsoft

The rumors were true: Microsoft is indeed bringing Halo: The Master Chief Collection to PC, through both Steam and the company's online store. 

The news was announced via a post on the Xbox Wire, which included the news that Halo: Reach will also be joining the collection.

Unfortunately, however, you won't be able to play all the games included in the collection all at once: each will be updated for modern graphics and re-released in chronological order over an unspecified span, so it's unclear when owners will play the final game in the bundle, Halo 4.

But we know what they'll play first – Halo: Reach, the prequel released in 2010 for the Xbox 360. And as a bonus, those who bought the collection on Xbox One will get the remastered multiplayer content (including Forge and Theater) at no additional cost. If they want to play Campaign and Firefight, though, they'll have to pay for a digital bundle that includes both. 

Xbox Game Pass holders, of course, get all of MCC content (including Reach) for free.

Halo, piece by piece

You won't have to buy the whole collection if you just want to play certain titles, as you'll be able to buy them individually as they become available, per Xbox's post. Best of all: "each game will evolve and grow over time with community input."

Who knows what that might end up meaning, but it suggests Microsoft's committed to sustaining the game's multiplayer scene and growing the PC community. Perhaps, just perhaps, that might include esports:

The Xbox team post promised more news to come, which is welcome for the fans who have been waiting to play the later Halo games every since Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2 came out on desktop years ago. You can almost hear the fans beckoning for 60FPS and 4K/HDR support, which the post promised for Halo: Reach on Xbox One.

TOPICS
David Lumb

David is now a mobile reporter at Cnet. Formerly Mobile Editor, US for TechRadar, he covered phones, tablets, and wearables. He still thinks the iPhone 4 is the best-looking smartphone ever made. He's most interested in technology, gaming and culture – and where they overlap and change our lives. His current beat explores how our on-the-go existence is affected by new gadgets, carrier coverage expansions, and corporate strategy shifts.

Latest in PC Gaming
Asus ROG Ally using Steam
I think Asus could be the perfect partner for an Xbox handheld – but I have questions
Playing games on the Razer Handheld Dock Chroma without an external display.
The Razer Handheld Dock Chroma offers Steam Deck owners a premium design and, of course, plenty of RGB
Image of GTA 6 protagonists and PS5
GTA 6's console-only launch reminds me of how much I despise console exclusivity - is it worth waiting years for PC ports?
Image of Grand Theft Auto 6 promotional art and Corsair's PC cases
GTA 6 could reach PCs in early 2026 according to Corsair – but I'm already sick of waiting
An angry PC Gamer sat at their desk looking unhappy
Can’t buy an Nvidia RTX 5080 or 5090 GPU due to stock shortages? If you were hoping GeForce Now might provide a good alternative, we’ve got some bad news
Steam Deck controls close up
Steam Deck fans, you're in for a good one - AMD's FSR 3 frame generation is now available on Valve's handheld thanks to a new Decky plugin
Latest in News
Super Mario Odyssey
ChatGPT is the ultimate gaming tool - here's 4 ways you can use AI to help with your next playthrough
Ray-Ban smart glasses with the Cpperni logo, an LED array, and a MacBook Air with M4 next to ecah other.
ICYMI: the week's 7 biggest tech stories from Twitter's massive outage to iRobot's impressive new Roombas
Brad Pitt looks over his right shoulder with 'F1' written behind him
Apple Original Films will take you behind-the-scenes of a racing cockpit in this new thrilling F1 movie trailer
AI writer
Coding AI tells developer to write it himself
Reacher looking down at another character from the Prime Video TV series Reacher
Reacher season 3 becomes Prime Video’s biggest returning show thanks to Hollywood’s biggest heavyweight
Finger Presses Orange Button Domain Name Registration on Black Keyboard Background. Closeup View
I visited the world’s first registered .com domain – and you won’t believe what it’s offering today