Along with Halo 5's Forge map editor coming to Windows 10 PCs, Microsoft is also allowing PC gamers to play Halo 5's multiplayer content when it hits later this year. Albeit none of its single-player content.
"We are giving players the ability to play full custom games to test their Forge creations on PC. Because Forge supports and builds upon existing Arena content, that includes the same maps and modes that are available in Arena on XB1," explained Josh Holmes, Studio Head at Halo developer 343 Industries. He further went on to explain why this would be the case and how this would work.
"The intent of the experience is to allow Win10 users to Forge more effectively w/ keyboard and mouse and test their creations on PC before publishing to Xbox One. As such, there is no support for matchmaking or server browser. You will need to invite friends into a session through [Xbox] LIVE," his post continued, later confirming in another post that it would be free to Windows 10 users.
To some it might seem like a convoluted way to bring Halo 5's multiplayer mode to Windows 10 PC. And that's where Frank O'Connor, Franchise Director of Halo at 343 Industries decided to answer some of the community's concerns.
"It's designed specifically as a better tool for Halo 5 Forge creators to build, share and create stuff faster and with more precision," he said on popular gaming forum NeoGAF before reiterating Holmes' statement that "PC players can actually play custom maps with all of the MP content. For free."
He then went on to explain why Halo 5 in its entirety has not come to Windows 10 PC.
"It's not "full Halo 5" because that would wreck production schedules and be a year too late and the game (Halo 5) wasn't originally built or designed for both platforms in the first place," after which he teased what to expect next from the Microsoft-owned studio with Halo Wars 2 - a real-time strategy based in the Halo universe.
"Halo Wars 2 was built from the ground up for PC and console and, without committing to anything else in this thread, is a better example of what to expect from 343 and PC support in the future."
With Halo Wars 2 under development at Total War hitmaker Creative Assembly and being overseen by 343 Industries, O'Connor's statement could allude to more collaborations with other developers in the future, which could possibly see some of the earlier games in the Halo series coming to the PC. Or maybe just bringing Halo 5 to the PC at a later date.
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