Halo: Campaign Evolved enters Early Access tomorrow, July 23, for players who pre-ordered the Premium Edition. The rebuilt version of the original Halo campaign launches globally on July 28 across Steam, Xbox, and other platforms.
This connects with Xbox Game Pass Adds Halo: Campaign Evolved and Beast of Reincarnation.
Premium Edition holders gain access at 8:00 AM PDT on July 23, with pre-load available now on Steam. The official Steam announcement confirms that all editions become available for purchase and play starting July 28 at the same time. Pre-order bonuses, including the Foundry Armory Pack with Mark V Mjolnir armor customizations, remain available through July 28.
The game features the full Halo: Combat Evolved campaign rebuilt by Halo Studios, along with new content called Operation: METEORITE, which adds fresh recon missions to the experience. Players also get 42 collectible Skulls scattered across the campaign, a Campaign Remix mode that reimagines encounters, and four-player cross-platform co-op. Consoles support two-player split-screen locally.
A Microsoft account and Gamertag are required to play, with cross-platform progression shared across Steam, Xbox, and other supported platforms. Steam players will be prompted to link their Steam ID to a Microsoft account on first launch. The game also supports Xbox Play Anywhere, letting players carry their progress between console, PC, and cloud.
The PC version carries substantial system requirements. Minimum specs call for an AMD Ryzen 5 3600 or Intel Core i7-10700K CPU, an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Super, AMD Radeon RX 6600, or Intel Arc A580 GPU with 8GB of VRAM, 16GB of RAM, and 100GB of SSD storage on Windows 10 or 11. Halo Studios published a full PC optimization guide covering graphics quality settings, upscaling, resolution scaling, and frame generation options.
Halo Studios also outlined its modding stance for the game. The developer will not provide official modding tools, Workshop integration, or support, but said it deliberately avoided placing blockers that would prevent modders from working with the content. Non-commercial mods are permitted, provided they follow the Xbox Game Content Usage Rules and do not distribute substantial portions of the game's code or assets.
The Premium Edition is priced at $59.99 on Steam. Standard Edition access begins July 28.
