Halo: Campaign Evolved arrives in July, and it's still coming to PS5 despite Xbox shake-ups

One of the easiest guesses you could've made going into the 2026 summer showcase season was that Xbox would announce the release date for Halo: Campaign Evolved. The game, which had been rumoured for about a year, was only officially unveiled last October.

The moment has now arrived, as it was just announced that Halo: Campaign Evolved will be in our hands 23rd July, 2026. The game will launch on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC (via Steam and Xbox). This is actually quite surprising, because Xbox kicked off the showcase by announcing Gears of War: E-Day is now an Xbox console exclusive, reneging on its multi-plat startegy.

The game is also getting new missions. "Before the events of Halo: Combat Evolved, the Master Chief and Sgt Johnson take part in Operation: Meteorite, in which they infiltrate a mysterious Covenant ship on a clandestine assignment," reads a blurb for a new trailer. "Experience their fight behind enemy lines in the form of three all-new bonus missions included in Halo: Campaign Evolved."

A summer release for the remake has long been rumoured, as Xbox - and everyone else in the industry - attempts to shuffle its line-up to steer as clear as possible away Rockstar's upcoming juggernaut, GTA 6.

Unlike most other upcoming releases in Xbox's catalogue, Campaign Evolved occupies the unique position of being the first Halo to ever be developed for Sony's PlayStation platform. From the beginning, the game had been envisioned as a multi-platform title.

As surprising as the news was at the time, it's worth keeping in mind that the decision was made in the Phil Spencer era of Xbox, which had all but shifted the brand's publishing focus to be almost entirely about multi-platform.

Newly-appointed CEO Asha Sharma, however, may be charting a different path. She has seemingly been keen - at least outwardly - to take the brand back into its early, platform-dependent days where exclusives were the norm. While that shift was unlikely to affect the initial plan for CE, it was still interesting to see final details confirmed today.