Xbox has confirmed that Halo: Campaign Evolved has officially gone gold, securing its July 28, 2026 release date and cementing its status as the first-ever mainline entry in the franchise to launch on PlayStation. This milestone means the core software development for the Unreal Engine 5 remake of 2001’s Halo: Combat Evolved is complete, allowing the developers at Halo Studios to shift their attention entirely to final bug fixes and day-one polishing. For a project carrying this much historical weight, reaching gold status nearly two weeks ahead of schedule is a crucial victory.
The release structure offers players multiple entry points, beginning with an early access window on Thursday, July 23, for those who pre-ordered the $69.99 Premium Edition across Xbox, PlayStation 5, or PC via Steam. Standard edition buyers will have to wait until the official launch on Tuesday, July 28. Additionally, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass subscribers will receive the standard edition as a day-one addition to their library.
While the remake will not feature competitive player-versus-player modes at launch, it places a heavy emphasis on cooperative play, offering both local split-screen and online co-op alongside the solo campaign. This focus recently sparked some community concern following rumors that local co-op on the PlayStation 5 would require two active PlayStation Plus subscriptions. However, Microsoft quickly clarified that while online play requires a subscription, local split-screen merely requires each participant to sign in with a free, standard PlayStation account.
In addition to the extensive visual overhaul provided by Unreal Engine 5, players can look forward to entirely new narrative content right out of the box. Halo: Campaign Evolved will ship with “Operation: Meteorite,” a three-mission prequel campaign set a year before the events of the original game. This side story teams Master Chief up with Sergeant Avery Johnson to raid a Covenant research vessel, introducing a fresh layer of lore, weapons, and enemy variants to a classic sci-fi adventure.
