Back in March, Halo fans everywhere collectively lost their minds when 343 Studios announced that the Master Chief Collection would be coming to PC, along with a port of the beloved Halo Reach.
Fans were so delighted by this reveal that the 343 offices were besieged by gifts of pizza to the point where the team had to formally ask people stop sending them the Italian treats. Obviously, people are really into Reach.
Details on the Master Chief Collection – and Reach in particular – have steadily been dripping down to fans since the initial reveal, and it sounds like 343 is really serious about delivering the best possible experience for Halo lovers.
We’d previously heard that all stats, achievements, Forged maps, and game variants Xbox One players have worked to build up on MCC over the years will carry over to the PC version, while Reach’s popular armour customisation feature will also be returning.
Halo community director Brian Jarrard explained in a Reddit AMA a few months back:
First, we’re happy to say that Halo: Reach in MCC will in fact have the same level of “mix and match” customization found in the original games (all the individual armor pieces, etc..). As to how it’s earned, we are exploring a new and deeper progression system that retains the feel of the old systems and blends them with newer models for game progression (all based on in-game play, no type of monetization or anything of that nature).
While all of this sounds fantastic, the one thing everybody really wants to know is exactly when they can get their hands on Reach and play with their friends like it’s 2010. Thankfully, a (very lengthy) developer update via Halowaypoint has confirmed that 343 fully expects a beta to kick off in June – that’s next month.
343 wrote:
Recently, the team checked off a pivotal milestone with the first pre-flight release of a PC build to a small private test group. The purpose of this ‘flight’ was strictly to verify the process of preparing a build, creating a whitelist and player entitlements, delivering the build content to participants, and verifying that some preliminary in-game telemetry was working as intended. With all of that in the rearview, the team is now on the cusp of moving into the next stage which will be activating our first public Insider flight which we expect to begin in June.
In addition, 343 shared a “first look” at the Halo Reach PC build in an hour long livestream. You can check that out that out below, or check out the written dev update for loads more information on the current status of the port.
Reach will be the first game to come to the Master Chief Collection when it hits PC, followed by Combat Evolved, and then the rest in chronological order. Dig out your old gamertags and get ready to find your old Halo buddies.
If you have a story you want to tell, send to UNILAD via story@unilad.com
Ewan Moore is a journalist at UNILAD Gaming who still quite hasn’t gotten out of his mid 00’s emo phase. After graduating from the University of Portsmouth in 2015 with a BA in Journalism & Media Studies (thanks for asking), he went on to do some freelance words for various places, including Kotaku, Den of Geek, and TheSixthAxis, before landing a full time gig at UNILAD in 2016.