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Microsoft will let PC players test Halo: The Master Chief Collection ahead of release

Microsoft will let PC players test Halo: The Master Chief Collection ahead of release

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The game will not, however, be part of the Xbox Anywhere program

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Microsoft today announced that as part of its newly released Halo Insider Program, PC players can sign up to test the upcoming Halo: The Master Chief Collection version coming to Windows some time later this year. Announced last week, the PC port of developer Bungie’s Halo trilogy, in addition to Halo: Reach and the single-player campaign of Halo 3: ODST, is coming both to the Microsoft Store and Valve’s Steam marketplace. The collection was originally released on Xbox One back in 2014.

“As a Halo Insider, you’ll have the opportunity to regularly provide feedback and insights that help shape and inform current franchise initiatives and the future of Halo,” the company says on its dedicated Halo Insider page. “You will also be given exclusive opportunities to participate in public flights of in-progress Halo game releases and provide feedback to the development teams.”

Microsoft wants PC players to test its upcoming Halo collection prior to release

According to Microsoft, the collection will be released in stages, starting with Halo: Reach, which was not included in the original Xbox version. Additionally, Halo: Reach will be made available in 4K / 60 fps with HDR support if you own the collection on Xbox and plan on playing on an Xbox One X console.

Unfortunately, one drawback is that the collection won’t be included in the Xbox Anywhere program, which lets players purchase a Microsoft-published game (and some third-party ones, too) on either PC or Xbox and have it both accessible and in some cases interoperable across platforms. According to Kotaku, the announcement was made over the weekend during a panel discussion at Austin’s South by Southwest festival with Bonnie Ross, studio head at 343 Industries (the internal studio created to take ownership of the Halo franchise after Bungie sold it to Microsoft).

“One of the questions we’ve gotten is will MCC PC support Xbox Play Anywhere, and first off I want to say we so appreciate all of the support we’ve had from the Xbox One community with MCC and we’re obviously bringing Reach to MCC,” Ross said. “While MCC shipped before the XPA Play Anywhere, we are exploring ways to make sure that we show our appreciation and recognition for the support we’ve had from the amazing fans on MCC and we’ll have more to announce as we get closer to launch.”