Xbox Game Studios and Halo Studios have announced that Halo: Campaign Evolved will launch on July 28 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC via Steam and the Microsoft Store. The full remake of the Halo: Combat Evolved campaign will also be available through Game Pass, and it adds a new three-mission story arc starring Master Chief and Sgt. Johnson to the original 10-mission campaign.

Halo: Campaign Evolved is not returning as a simple visual touch-up: Halo Studios is rebuilding the full Halo: Combat Evolved campaign, while the remake also launches on PlayStation 5 alongside the Xbox Series and PC versions. That alone is a major shift for a series that spent decades as one of Xbox’s strongest identity markers, but the package does not stop at modernizing the original 10 missions. Every edition will also include Operation: METEORITE, a brand-new three-mission story arc set one year before the events of the first game.

The new mission arc sends Master Chief and Sgt. Johnson behind enemy lines during a clandestine UNSC operation aboard a Covenant research vessel. What begins as a simple smash-and-grab assignment quickly turns into something more complicated, as the pair discovers far more than the briefing suggested. Operation: METEORITE expands the campaign with new locations, new enemy variants, weapons from across the Halo series, and new sandbox possibilities, while giving players more time with two characters the fan base has long been attached to.

Operation: METEORITE Is Being Built as Its Own Story, Not a Tossed-In Extra

The new trailer shown during the Xbox Games Showcase focused directly on Operation: METEORITE, and based on the footage, this new story arc is not just a handful of bolted-on stages. It shows combat alongside UNSC forces, Covenant-controlled interiors, new enemies, and space-based clashes, including the Brute Berserker, which could bring a different pace and pressure to familiar Halo encounters. According to the developers, the goal is to add to the heroic history of Master Chief and Sgt. Johnson, while letting players use the classic sandbox in new situations.

The story was developed in collaboration with award-winning sci-fi author Troy Denning, whose work has contributed to several acclaimed Halo novels. That matters because an expanded campaign like this needs more than new maps and enemies: the new material has to fit the military sci-fi tone, the stakes, and the early Halo era in which this remake takes place. Campaign Evolved is therefore trying to do two things at once: remain faithful to the original 10-mission campaign, while also writing a new event into the shared history of Master Chief and Sgt. Johnson.

Three Editions, Early Access, and a Serious Collector’s Package

Pre-orders are now live on Xbox, Steam, and PlayStation. Every edition includes the full game, meaning the original 10-mission campaign and the new three-mission Operation: METEORITE arc. Anyone who pre-orders any edition will receive the Foundry Armory Pack, which includes the Classic 2001 Mark V Armor skin, Classic 2001 Assault Rifle skin, Gilded Onyx Armor style, and Gilded Onyx Assault Rifle style.

The Premium Edition’s Alpha Halo Armory Pack includes five Master Chief armor skins and six weapon skins, while the Digital Story & Art Collection looks more substantial than the usual gallery bundle. It includes Halo: Hungry Buzzards, a new digital short story by Troy Denning that leads into the events of Operation: METEORITE, along with The Art of Halo: Campaign Evolved digital artbook and a digital game manual inspired by the original 2001 Halo: Combat Evolved manual. The global launch is set for July 28 at 8:00 a.m. PDT, with July 29 timing in Japan and select Asia-Pacific markets; early access begins on July 23, or July 24 in those same markets. Halo: Campaign Evolved is therefore not just a return to the first ring, but a new military chapter added to the campaign, while one of the series’ foundational games opens up to a much broader platform lineup.

Source: Gematsu