Halo’s long-awaited return to Steam is here. Halo: Campaign Evolved, a full Unreal Engine 5 remake of the franchise’s 2001 debut, launched today on the Steam store with complete co-op support and crossplay across every platform.
Developed by Halo Studios and published by Microsoft, the remake rebuilds every mission of the original Halo: Combat Evolved campaign with modern visuals, remastered audio, and refined level design. The game runs on Unreal Engine 5 and features all-new cinematics alongside a remastered soundtrack and rebuilt sound design. For Steam players, this marks the first time the full Halo: CE campaign experience is available natively on the platform with modern infrastructure.
What sets this release apart from the Master Chief Collection version is the expanded feature set. The remake adds three brand-new missions as part of Operation: Meteorite, a standalone prequel campaign where Master Chief and Sergeant Johnson carry out a combat operation in new environments against fresh enemy encounters. Nine additional weapons from across the Halo series join the original arsenal, giving players more tactical options in the ring’s varied combat scenarios.
Co-op is a major highlight. Up to four players can tackle the entire campaign online together, with full crossplay and cross-progression support spanning console and PC. Steam Deck owners and desktop players alike can team up with friends on Xbox without any platform friction. The game also introduces “Skull” modifiers, optional gameplay remixes that randomize weapons, enemies, and environments to add replayability across multiple playthroughs.
Vehicle gameplay has been expanded too. For the first time in a Halo: CE release, players can hijack Covenant vehicles and pilot a fully drivable Wraith tank, adding a new layer of sandbox experimentation to the campaign’s iconic Warthog and Scorpion sequences.
A Premium Edition is also available, bundling the base game with five Master Chief armor skins, six weapon skins, a digital artbook, a short story, and a digital manual.
At $79.90, Halo: Campaign Evolved is a premium release, but for PC gamers who’ve waited years for a native Halo experience that goes beyond the Master Chief Collection, it delivers a faithful yet modernized take on where one of gaming’s most iconic franchises began.
Lena Nakamura is a reviewer at SteamGamer.net. She approaches every game by asking whether it does something new. She has a soft spot for roguelikes, narrative experiments, and anything with a strong art direction.
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