Halo: Campaign Evolved Release Date, Early Access, Price and Review Scores

Original illustration by GameVexo — Halo: Campaign Evolved early access artwork

Halo: Campaign Evolved is finally playable. Early access opened on July 23, 2026, for Premium and Collector’s Edition owners, with the full worldwide release landing July 28, 2026, on Xbox Series X|S, PC, and for the first time ever, PlayStation 5.

The game is a ground-up remake of 2001’s Halo: Combat Evolved, rebuilt in Unreal Engine 5 by Halo Studios (the team formerly known as 343 Industries). It keeps the original 10-mission campaign intact, folds in three brand-new prequel missions, and adds four-player online co-op — but it drops the classic head-to-head multiplayer entirely.

Background

Halo: Combat Evolved launched on the original Xbox in 2001 and helped define first-person shooters on console, from its open-ended combat sandbox to its now-iconic ring-world setting. Since 343 Industries took over the franchise in 2010, most Halo releases have been sequels or the 2011 Anniversary remaster, but nothing rebuilt the campaign from scratch on a modern engine. That changed when the studio rebranded to Halo Studios in 2024 and moved the series onto Unreal Engine 5, with Campaign Evolved as its first project on the new tech.

The goal, according to the developers, is to give new players a modern entry point into the series while giving longtime fans a faithful but noticeably sharper version of the mission that started it all. It arrives during a packed year for big releases — you can see how it stacks up against everything else coming out in our most anticipated games of 2026 roundup, and if classic-style shooters are your thing, it’s also worth checking our list of the best FPS games to play in 2026.

What We Know

Campaign Evolved rebuilds all 10 original missions in Unreal Engine 5 with new lighting, updated cinematics, re-recorded voice acting, and reworked level layouts to fix old wayfinding issues. On top of that, it adds a brand-new three-mission story arc called Operation: Meteorite, set roughly a year before the original game, following Master Chief and Sgt. Johnson on a UNSC operation aboard a Covenant research ship.

The moveset has also expanded well beyond what shipped in 2001: players now get nine additional weapons pulled from later Halo games, the ability to hijack enemy vehicles, and a drivable Wraith tank. A new “Skulls” system lets players remix any completed mission with optional modifiers — randomized weapon drops, tougher enemies, or altered environments — for extra replay value after the campaign is done. The full game supports 2-player split-screen co-op on console and up to 4-player online co-op with crossplay and cross-progression shared across Xbox, PC, and PlayStation 5.

Editions and Pricing

There are three editions, and none of them lock story content behind a paywall — every tier ships the same 13-mission campaign. The Standard Edition costs $49.99 and launches July 28. The Digital Premium Edition is $69.99 (or a $20 upgrade for Standard owners) and adds up to five days of early access, an Alpha Halo Armory Pack of cosmetic armor and weapon skins, and a digital art book. The $199.99 Collector’s Edition bundles in a Master Chief statue, a light-up Cortana chip, and a Steelbook case, but it sold out shortly after being announced. Anyone who pre-orders any edition also gets the free Foundry Armory Pack, including a classic 2001-style armor and assault rifle skin.

Platforms and Game Pass

Campaign Evolved is available on Xbox Series X|S, PC through Steam and the Xbox app, Xbox Cloud Gaming, and — for the first time in the series’ history — PlayStation 5, where players can also grab the latest lineup in our PS Plus games roundup for July 2026. It’s also a day-one release for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass subscribers, folding into an already busy month; see our breakdown of the full lineup of new Xbox releases this week for everything else launching alongside it. There is no Xbox One version — the only way to play on older Xbox hardware is through Xbox Cloud Gaming.

Community Reaction

Reaction on Reddit and social media has been largely positive so far, with players praising the visual overhaul, the updated combat feel, and the new Operation: Meteorite missions for slotting naturally into the existing story. The biggest point of debate is the missing competitive multiplayer, which some longtime fans see as a real loss even though it wasn’t the focus of this remake. The early access login issues also drew plenty of frustration in the first hours after launch, though most players report the game running smoothly once they’re actually in.

What’s Next

The next milestone is the full worldwide launch on July 28, 2026, when Standard Edition owners and Game Pass subscribers get access alongside everyone else. Expect at least one day-one patch addressing the early access login problems, plus the usual wave of platform-specific performance patches in the weeks after launch. Beyond that, Microsoft hasn’t said anything official about the next mainline Halo game, so for now, Campaign Evolved is the series’ biggest release of the year.

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