The Halo series was already confirmed for Microsoft’s Windows Mixed Reality platform, but the alien-fighting science-fiction blockbuster is arriving sooner than we expected. On October 17, fans will be able to experience Halo in mixed reality in a short experience titled Halo: Recruit.
Available for free on October 17 and available to try in Microsoft stores, Halo: Recruit is a bite-sized experience featuring “several iconic characters,” according to a statement given to Engadget by Windows Mixed Reality head Alex Kipman.
“It’s a fun, brief introduction into the world of Halo,” Kipman said.
As it’s a free title, we don’t expect too much from Halo: Recruit, but it should, at the very least, help show the potential for the series in a virtual reality or mixed reality environment.
Other titles already announced for Windows Mixed Reality include Ark Park, a spinoff of the smash-hit survival game Ark: Survival Evolved. Schell Games’ I Expect You To Die, previously released on Vive, Rift, and PlayStation VR, will also support the platform, as will media platforms like Hulu.
The announcement comes just a few days after Halo 3 celebrated its 10th anniversary. The acclaimed shooter was praised for its “definitive” conclusion to Master Chief’s story (that didn’t last long) as well its excellent online multiplayer component, but up until this point, the Xbox 360 version of the game wasn’t available through backward compatibility on Xbox One — users had to purchase Halo: The Master Chief Collection instead. That has since changed, with Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary and Halo 4 also available. As Halo 2 was never released on Xbox 360, it isn’t compatible yet.
What wasn’t announced was a remastered Halo 3 like Microsoft had published for the first two games. Following online infrastructure problems rendering much of The Master Chief Collection unplayable at launch in 2014, Microsoft may have decided to allocate its resources elsewhere. The last main entry in the series was 2015’s Halo 5: Guardians, which released to relatively positive reviews, but fell short of the universal praise the original trilogy had received. Strategy spinoff Halo Wars 2, developed by veteran studio Creative Assembly, launched back in February to little fanfare on Xbox One as well as Windows 10.
