The Pros and Cons of Halo: Campaign Evolved Coming to PS5

Last week, Microsoft unveiled the long-rumored Halo: Campaign Evolved, a remake of the first Halo's single-player story in Unreal Engine 5. Reactions to the reveal have been mixed to say the least, with many making the argument that the original Halo isn't really in need of a remaster; the 2001 version is widely accessible, and has even gotten a facelift already courtesy of the Master Chief Collection.

But without a doubt, the most significant element of Halo: Campaign Evolved is its cross-platform release strategy: for the first time in franchise history, Halo will be coming to PlayStation. For anyone who's been aware of gaming news since the days of the original Xbox or Xbox 360, this is an almost unimaginable sea change, as Halo has always been synonymous with the Xbox brand—Master Chief is as inextricable from Xbox as Mario is to Nintendo. With Halo: Campaign Evolved arriving on PlayStation, it feels like Xbox has well and truly conceded the "console war" as it is commonly conceptualized, giving up on the very idea of platform exclusivity. In other words, if even Halo is leaving the Microsoft ecosystem, then just about every other IP is fair game as well, which could have a significant impact, for better or worse.

Halo: Campaign Evolved On PlayStation 5 Is a Mixed Bag

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More Players Than Ever Will Get the Chance to Experience Halo

Here's an optimistic take on the Halo: Campaign Evolved news: the first Halo is a definitive, seminal first-person shooter, and its arrival on PlayStation means that it will be able to reach a wider audience than ever before. Halo: Combat Evolved wasn't just successful because of branding or the more mild expectations of earlier gaming audiences—it gained traction because it redefined what a single-player shooter could be. It was made with an ambitious vision in mind, and perhaps because of this, it still holds up remarkably well.

As its name suggests, Halo: Campaign Evolved will only feature the single-player component of the original game. However, it's very likely that Microsoft will bring more Halo games to PlayStation, with their multiplayer modes intact. If this were to happen, it could pave the way for a major revitalization of Halo's online community, which would no longer be tethered to PC and the dwindling Xbox install base. All in all, bringing Halo to PlayStation would have a lot of consumer-friendly advantages, but it could also have some unfortunate business implications.

Halo Campaign Evolved Silent Cartographer

This bright side interpretation assumes that Halo: Campaign Evolved is actually well-made. If it winds up being glitchy, runs poorly, or adulterates the vision of the original, then that'll be a whole other can of worms.

With Xbox Waving the White Flag, Strong Exclusives Could Be a Thing of the Past

When did PlayStation start to "win" its battle against Xbox? Many gamers would argue that PlayStation's victory was decided in the early years of the PS4's life, when heavy-hitters like Bloodborne and Uncharted 4 graced the platform, while others will posit that it was near the end of the PS3's lifetime, courtesy of games like InFamous 2 and The Last of Us. Either way, a constant factor remains at the core of this discussion: PlayStation's library of exclusives.

PlayStation-Studios — Selection of games from PlayStation Studios.

Indeed, PlayStation likely wouldn't have gained as much ground if not for the aforementioned games, but such games probably wouldn't have turned out the same way if not for Xbox's one-time dominance during the Xbox 360 era. It's even possible that system-sellers like The Last of Us and Bloodborne wouldn't have existed, at least not as we know them, without Gears of War, Fable, and yes, Halo. If these franchises are coming to PlayStation, what reason will Sony have to invest so aggressively in exclusives of its own? With no exclusives on Xbox and myriad exclusives on PS5, there's little reason to invest in Microsoft's ecosystem, and less reason for Sony to remain as competitive with its first-party releases.

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