Microsoft are getting more and more committed to PC gaming, putting all of their games on Windows 10 – so much so that we’ve questioned the need for Xbox’s existence if this trend continues going forward – but this commitment still won’t cause them to share Xbox’s most vaunted exclusive with PC. Halo 5 will remain, for the foreseeable future, an Xbox exclusive, Xbox head Phil Spencer reiterated, even as he explained Microsoft’s push for PC gaming.
“In terms of Halo FPS on PC, I think there’s a ton of opportunity for us right now, but I don’t want to get into a world where we’re looking back, like at Halo 5,” Spencer said. “It doesn’t mean there’s nothing there that could ever end up on PC, but I’d much rather look forward with what our plans are.”
Which seems to imply that future Halo games may end up on PC- but past releases like The Master Chief Collection or Halo 5 may not make it over. Spencer also believes that Microsoft is leveraging the Halo brand on PC well, pointing out the upcoming Halo Wars 2 as an example of a Halo game tailored to the PC platform’s strengths- which is ultimately what Spencer seems to be pushing for, games that make sense on the platforms they are on.
“I don’t want to make it some kind of artificial mandate, because then I think we end up with ‘Frankengames’, games that really weren’t meant for a certain platform,” added Spencer. “And because some suit said, ‘Hey, everything’s gotta run on both platforms’, you end up with something people don’t want.
“You should expect it when franchises look like they belong on both platforms, but I wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s a mandate for the studios because it’s not.”
Halo Wars 2 launches on PC and Xbox One by this year’s end.