2001"s Halo: Combat Evolved was the flagship game for Microsoft"s first Xbox console, and the Halo franchise continues to be a major one for the company. Today, a new report claims Microsoft is working on a remaster of Halo: Combat Evolved that could launch on Sony"s PlayStation 5 consoles as well as the Xbox platform.
The report comes from Tom Warren"s recently launched Notepad newsletter from The Verge (via Eurogamer). This remaster is still early in development, so we may not get any official information about it for a while.
If this report is accurate, this would be the fourth separate version of the game. After Bungie had completed and shipped the original game, Gearbox Software released a PC port with better graphics, among other things. After Bungie ended its deal with Microsoft to make more Halo games, the company started 343 Industries. It developed and released the remastered Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary for the Xbox 360, which was later added to Halo: The Master Chief Collection.
Warren says a PS5 port of Halo: Combat Evolved is part of Microsoft"s new multi-platform game strategy, which he says has the code name "Project Latitude.” The newsletter states other games that could launch on other platforms like the PS5 include Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II, Starfield, and the upcoming Age of Mythology: Retold and the still unconfirmed Doom: The Dark Ages.
Microsoft dipped its toes in its multi-platform strategy when it released four older games to the PS5 and Nintendo Switch platforms. In the case of at least one game, Rare"s Sea of Thieves, it seems to have succeeded. It launched on April 30 for the PS5, and it was since listed as the fourth best-selling game in the US for the month of April, according to Circana.