Halo is Coming to PlayStation

The biggest exclusive game Xbox owns will soon come to the PlayStation. If you’re asking yourself “why, how could this happen,” check out our second story about what kind of profit margin Microsoft expects from its games division. All this and more. Let’s go!

PlayStation gets Xbox’s biggest exclusive

Microsoft announced Halo: Campaign Evolved last week. The game is a remake of the Halo: Combat Evolved, which released in 2001 on the original Xbox. The remake will use the Unreal Engine 5 and offer some new gameplay, additional missions and better visuals.

Oh, and it will be the first Halo game ever also released on PlayStation. 

Yes, the biggest name in Xbox gaming will release simultaneously on their top hardware competitor’s system. In an interview, Xbox president Sarah Bond says the idea of “locking it in one store or one device is antiquated.” Furthermore, Microsoft confirmed that going forward, all future Halo games will be available on PlayStation.

With its biggest franchise soon to be available on the PlayStation, does this signal the end for Xbox exclusives? It definitely seems likely. Halo: Campaign Evolved will release in 2026.

Microsoft demands big profits from Xbox

Microsoft has been in the news a lot lately for cancelling games, increasing the price of Game Pass, and raising the price of their Xbox consoles twice. Thanks to a recent report from Bloomberg, we might now know why. 

In the article, Jason Schreier reported that Microsoft pushed the Xbox division to hit a profit margin of 30%. This explains a lot of their actions, including the story above about Halo coming to PlayStation.

IGN breaks down the article for those who do not have access to the Bloomberg piece. In their synopsis, IGN points out:

Bloomberg said the average profit margin in the video game industry is 17-22%. Over the past six years, Xbox has hit 10-20%. To put that 30% target into more context, Sony's PlayStation division achieved a 16% profit margin in Q1 FY25. Bloomberg said Microsoft Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood enforced the new target in fall 2023 — amid Microsoft’s $69 billion acquisition of Call of Duty maker Activision Blizzard.

The upshot now is, according to Bloomberg, that games that are cheap to make or considered more likely to make lots of money may take priority over riskier projects. Xbox’s “floundering” hardware division, meanwhile, may face “a significant rethinking.”

Recently, Xbox president Sarah Bond said that the “next-gen hardware is in development,” and that it would be “a very premium, very high-end curated experience.” After the recent release of the ROG Xbox Ally X, many think this means the next version of the Xbox will be more of a PC than a console. Time will tell, but whatever it is, you can expect the price tag to be high. 

Side Quests (more stories worth reading)

🚓 The PlayStation 2 turned 25 recently. Check out this story about Sony’s blockbuster exclusivity deal with Grand Theft Auto 3. 

🙇🏻 Twitch CEO Dan Clancy apologized for the events that led to the assault of Emiru at TwitchCon, saying “we failed, both in allowing it to occur, and in our response following.”

🛩️ Nintendo held a Direct to provide more details on the upcoming Switch 2 release of Kirby Air Riders. 

🏈 The NFL’s Baltimore Ravens were playing so poorly this season that coaches took away their locker room video game systems.   

📅 The Switch 2 version of Elden Ring is delayed until 2026. 

🎈 To celebrate his 40th birthday, Mario will be transformed into a balloon for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. 

🚀 Cards Against Humanity settled a $15 million lawsuit against Elon Musk’s company, SpaceX.

🤖 Krafton, the publisher of PUBG and Subnautica, says it is restructuring into an “AI-first” company. 

📈 Borderlands 4 was the top-selling game of September, the fastest-selling game in the franchise and the third-most purchased game of 2026. 

👋🏼 Remedy’s CEO Tero Virtala stepped down after the rough launch of FBC: Firebreak.

📰 BBC does a deep dive on why Mindseye was such a failure, with one former employee saying “there was no coherent direction” for the game. 

☢️ Bethesda announced Fallout 4 is getting an Anniversary Edition, which will also release on the Switch 2. Check out everything announced at their Fallout Day livestream. 

⚖️ The state of Florida is launching a criminal investigation into Roblox for failing to protect children from inappropriate content and online predators.

📱 The Sims Mobile will shut down on January 20, 2026. 

💸 Xbox reportedly increased the cost of their developer kits from $1,500 to $2,000, a 33% price hike. 

😢 Valiant cut the entire features team and other editorial positions at their news website TheGamer. 

📈 Round numbers: Pokémon Legends: Z-A sold 5.8 million copies in its first week, while Escape From Duckov reached 300,000 concurrent players 10 days after it was released. 

New Releases this week:

Check out our article on 13 New Games to Play in October.

10/28: Wreckreation (PlayStation, Xbox and PC)
10/28: Simon the Sorcerer Origins (PlayStation, Xbox, Switch and PC)
10/29: The Outer Worlds 2 (PlayStation, Xbox and PC)
10/30: ARC Raiders (PlayStation, Xbox and PC)
10/30: Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake (PlayStation, Xbox, Switch and PC)
10/30: Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection (PlayStation, Xbox, Switch and PC)
10/31: Tales of Xillia Remastered (PlayStation, Xbox, Switch and PC)

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