Halo: Campaign Evolved is getting Firefight, and it's free. Xbox has confirmed that the four-player co-op PvE mode will arrive in the remake as a free update this winter. That's the northern winter, so for anyone reading in Australia, it's summer.
There's no release date yet, as Video Games Chronicle points out. For now, Xbox FanFest attendees get first go at Firefight on the night of 12 November, and there's a promise of more news at Halo Fest next month.
What's actually confirmed
The announcement came from Tahir Hasangjekaj, Halo Studios' director of competitive engagement, on Xbox Wire. He described the mode the way longtime fans will know it:
"For nearly two decades, Firefight has been a Halo favorite, challenging Spartans to team up, hold the line, and survive wave after wave of enemies."
Here's what we know so far:
- It's free. Hasangjekaj says it's coming to Halo: Campaign Evolved "in a free update."
- It's four-player co-op. It's PvE, so you're fighting waves of enemies rather than other players.
- It has new maps. FanFest attendees play it first, on 12 November, "across new maps and armed with plenty of weapons to help even the odds," according to Hasangjekaj.
Xbox hasn't said how many maps there are.
Gematsu says FanFest, where the first hands-on takes place, is being held in Seattle.
Halo Fest is the next checkpoint
Halo Fest runs on 12 and 13 December in Seattle, Washington. Xbox says it will share more about the free update there, and people at the event can play Firefight all weekend. Xbox is pitching the whole thing as part of celebrating 25 years of Halo and Xbox.
The questions nobody has answered yet
If your co-op group plays on a mix of hardware, this part matters. Halo: Campaign Evolved's campaign co-op already supports up to four players online with "full crossplay and cross-progression support", and it has two-player split-screen on console only.
The Firefight announcement doesn't say whether any of that carries over to the new mode. It also doesn't say how many maps there will be or give a launch date. Those are the things to look for when Halo Fest comes around.
Why this one lands
Halo: Campaign Evolved came out in July, according to VGC. It's a remake of the first Halo game's campaign. Gematsu lists it on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC through Steam and the Microsoft Store, and it's on Game Pass too.
Pure Xbox notes that the game copped some backlash for its lack of multiplayer options, particularly PvP and Firefight. Its writer called that criticism understandable but "perhaps a little unfair," since the game was always marketed as a campaign remake.
There's also the bigger picture. VGC reports that Halo Studios was severely hit by the recent layoffs across Xbox. Xbox moved Halo over to Activision, and a smaller Halo Studios is now looking after Halo games that are already out, including Campaign Evolved. VGC reads this update as a sign that Xbox isn't ready to abandon older Halo games just yet.
Jax's take: Firefight was the right thing to add, more so than PvP. I'd guess it's cheaper to support, it suits a campaign-first game, and going by the backlash Pure Xbox mentions, it's one of the modes people missed. But the campaign already has crossplay across console and PC. If Firefight launches without it, it'll feel half done. Halo Fest needs to answer that before it shows off anything else.
Reporting notes
