If you're looking to upgrade your gaming PC and want to keep your budget to about $1,500, then one deal stands out above all the rest. Walmart is offering a well-equipped iBuypower Slate gaming PC for just $1,529.99 with free delivery. It features a liquid-cooled AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D CPU, Radeon RX 9070 XT GPU, 32GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD. The Radeon RX 9070 XT is an outstanding GPU that can run games in 4K, even the latest titles such as Borderlands 4 and Battlefield 6.

iBuypower Slate Radeon RX 9070 XT Gaming PC $1530

The AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D is still one of the best gaming CPUs

The AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D has an established reputation of being one of the best gaming CPUs available. It's a slightly older model that has been replaced by the newer Ryzen 9 98000X3D, but it is still one of the best gaming CPUs you can get today. According to Passmark, the 7800X3D's gaming performance surpasses that of the latest generation Intel Core Ultra 7 265K. The 7800X3D is also more efficient than the 9800X3D, which means it will consume less power and produce less heat (and thus less noise because your fans don't need to spin as fast).

The Radeon RX 9070 XT can run most games in 4K at 60fps or higher

We rated the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT a "perfect" 10/10. Even though it costs $150 less than the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti, the 9070 XT beats it out in several of the games we tested. In a few benchmarks, the results aren't even close. The 9070 XT is also comparable in performance to the older $1,000 RX 7900 XTX but with better ray tracing and upscaling performance than its predecessor. It does lose out on VRAM (16GB vs 24GB), but that isn't really an issue for gaming. By "4K ready" I mean that this gaming PC can run pretty much any game at 4K resolution and at framerates of 60fps or higher. Any video card that's weaker and you'll have to compromise in order to get playable framerates.

Hardware Unboxed Benched the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT Graphics Card During the Battlefield 6 Open Beta

For those of you looking to upgrade your rig for Battlefield 6, which comes out Friday, Hardware Unboxed tested out a few different Radeon RX 9070 XT configurations in-game. At 4K and with the maximum "Ultra" preset, the RX 9070 XT rig maintained an average of 70-85fps with a 1% low of 67fps. This was tested with both lower-end AMD Ryzen 5 and higher-end AMD Ryzen 7 X3D processors and the performance difference was minimal, especially at higher resolutions (1440p and 4K) where games are typically less CPU limited. What's also impressive is that the GeForce RTX 5080 equipped PC only averaged about 8%-12% better, even though that GPU would cost you $1,000 or more.

Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn't hunting for deals for other people at work, he's hunting for deals for himself during his free time.

We’re fresh off the release of the Xbox Ally X, and it doesn’t seem like handheld gaming PCs are going anywhere anytime soon. At least for me, handhelds have become my go-to way of playing my Steam – among other PC game stores – library when I’m not at my desk. In a lot of ways, these little devices have replaced much of what I used gaming laptops for, especially during a commute or a short trip.

This makes me wonder: why would you buy a gaming laptop in 2025 when PC gaming handhelds are getting more powerful and portable year after year? If all you’re looking for is an alternate device to play your games on the go, the prospects for gaming laptops seem to be thinning. However, now that handheld gaming PCs are getting more expensive, it’s once again getting harder to draw a clear line.

Handheld Gaming PCs Have Come a Long Way

Handheld gaming PCs aren’t a new thing. Depending on who you ask, you can trace the form factor back to 2010 with the Pandora – a Linux based handheld that wasn’t much larger than the Nintendo DS – but the Steam Deck is responsible for the explosion in more mainstream handheld PC devices these days. After all, it was affordable, and had a user experience that didn’t require you to be an expert to navigate.

In the roughly three years since the Steam Deck launched, it seems like every major computer manufacturer has jumped at the chance to craft its own handheld gaming machines. But because a company like Lenovo can’t subsidize its hardware costs with software sales like Valve can, these other devices have been more expensive than the Deck.

Regardless of which modern handheld you pick up, though, you can still play pretty much any game on it, as long as you temper your expectations when it comes to graphics quality. You don’t need to lug around a heavy gaming laptop just to get some time in Path of Exile 2 on the road.

The Pricing Problem

But gaming laptops aren’t just more unwieldy than a handheld PC – they’re generally more expensive, too. Even if devices like the Xbox Ally X and the Legion Go 2 are balked at because of their high prices, gaming laptops have always been kind of expensive. Even entry-level devices, like the Acer Nitro V start at around $900 right now, with an RTX 5050 and a Core i7 processor. And that’s the low-end. High-end gaming laptops can get much, much more expensive.

Our favorite gaming laptop right now is the Razer Blade 16, which is a premium device that looks like an edgy MacBook Pro. But that svelte design comes with a high price, starting at $1,899 with an RTX 5060 – much more expensive than even the Legion Go 2. You can also upgrade that laptop to an RTX 5090 if you want to spend $4,499. To be fair, that’ll be much more powerful than any handheld device on the market right now, and probably for years to come.

Handhelds, on the other hand, were initially supposed to be these secondary devices we used in addition to our gaming PCs or laptops – that’s how I use mine. That was a much easier sell with the Steam Deck. I bought the Steam Deck at launch for $529, which came with a 256GB SSD. Is it as powerful as my PC? Hell no, but I primarily use it to play Ball x Pit in bed while I listen to a podcast. You can substitute any recent gaming PC in that equation, too, and I’m probably using it in the same way. But as much as I love many of the handhelds I’ve used in the last couple years, I don’t know if I would have ever got into them if the Steam Deck cost a thousand bucks.

Gaming laptops are meant to be your primary computer, and they’re powerful enough to play most games at a higher resolution and with better visual quality than a handheld. And they’re also able to do a lot more than just play your games.

Gaming Laptops Aren’t Going Anywhere

I spend a lot of time on a handheld – I’ve reviewed a lot of them now – but I’m always returning to my PC, because it lets me play my games, and also get stuff done. There’s just something nice about a device that lets you play something like World of Warcraft between Adobe Premiere sessions. And, really, that’s what gaming laptops offer and something handheld PCs continue to struggle with, even as they start to have laptop-like price tags.

Because while a lot of handhelds are launching with a full-fat version of Windows running on them, they have a long way to go before they can truly replace gaming laptops. Arguably, they even have a long way to go before they’re easy to use for just gaming. The Xbox Full Screen Experience did a lot to address the user experience side of things, giving Windows a controller-friendly UI where you can launch games or open Edge, but it won’t let you do much beyond that.

If you want to get some work done on the Xbox Ally X, that’s certainly possible, but you have to get into the desktop and likely connect a keyboard and a mouse to even be able to use most productivity apps. And you’ll probably want to connect it to an external display, too. It’s certainly possible to use a handheld like you would any other PC, but it requires so many extra steps that it’s probably not actually worth it.

Instead, for most people that only need one PC, a gaming laptop simply makes more sense, especially as the price delta between them continues to narrow. You’ll be able to play games better, while also being able to do all the daily tasks we all have without having to plug two or more accessories into a USB dongle to do it.

Handheld gaming PCs are better as companions to your main gaming rig, especially if you already have a large Steam library to tap into. I’m not sure what the suits over at Lenovo and Asus are thinking, but it seems like a bad idea to have a secondary device be as expensive as a gaming laptop.

Jackie Thomas is the Hardware and Buying Guides Editor at IGN and the PC components queen. You can follow her @Jackiecobra

Weak Legacy 2 is a Roblox experience inspired by the manga series Demon Slayer. Whether you fight alongside the demons or choose to fight for humanity, the challenge is the same: you need to rank up, increase your rep, and earn status buffs along the way. To give you a boost, we've collected all the available Weak Legacy 2 codes.

Working Weak Legacy 2 Codes

The following codes have been tested and are active:

• 75SPINS150KLIKESANDSORRYFORTHEBUGS - Rewards
• MISTUPDRESETBREATHINGORART - Breathing Art Reset
• 25SPINSMISTUPD - Rewards
• MISTUPDERESETRACE - Race or Breathing Art Reset
• 15SPINS200KLIKES - Rewards

How to Use Weak Legacy 2 Codes

To redeem Weak Legacy 2 codes, launch the experience on Roblox. From there, follow these steps to get your freebies:

1. Locate the menu button in the bottom left corner of the screen
2. Look for the icon of the purple gift box. This is the codes sub-menu
3. Click codes and then copy the code from this article
4. Paste the code into the "Enter code here..." bar
5. Press redeem and enjoy!

Expired Weak Legacy 2 Codes

These codes are no longer valid:

• 25SPINS250KLIKES

Why Isn't My Weak Legacy 2 Code Working?

Codes for Roblox experiences are usually case-sensitive, so the best way to ensure you've got a working code is to directly copy it from this article. We check all codes before we upload them, so you can guarantee they're working. Just double-check that you haven't copied over an extra space!

When Is the Next Weak Legacy 2 Update?

Weak Legacy 2 just had an update on Sunday, October 18th that introduced a mist rework and more. But they're planning to release content for a new Halloween event soon, so stay tuned!

Lauren Harper is an Associate Guides Editor. She loves a variety of games but is especially fond of puzzles, horrors, and point-and-click adventures.

Yo dawg, Razer heard you like gaming green, so it greened its gaming gear so you can green while you game. What I mean to say is that Razer has announced a new Esports Green Collection that washes several of its esports-coded mice, keyboards, and other gaming accessories in an intense, searing green. Remember the Razer Phantom Green Collection? This is, uh, a bit more intense. Okay, a lot more.

Among the controllers getting this super green treatment is the Kitsune Esports arcade-style joystick controller, which IGN selected as one of the best you can get for fighting games on PC. Other green edition controllers include the Razer Wolverine V3 Pro for Xbox or Xbox and PC and the Raiju V3 Pro for PlayStation consoles, as well as the BlackShark V3 Pro, one of our favorite gaming headsets. The company has also released a Huntsman V3 Pro Tenkeyless 8KHz Esports Green Edition.

Here, have a look:

None of this gear is cheap on a good day, and most of the Esports Green ones will be even pricier than their normie counterparts, by $10 in most cases. Here's the full list, with prices:

• Viper V3 Pro Esports Green Edition gaming mouse ($169.99)
• DeathAdder V4 Pro Esports Green Edition gaming mouse ($179.99)
• Huntsman V3 Pro Tenkeyless 8KHz Esports Green Edition mechanical keyboard ($249.99)
• BlackShark V3 Pro Esports Green Edition PC or Xbox headsets ($259.99)
• Wolverine V3 Pro Esports Green Edition PC/Xbox controller ($209.99)
• Wolverine V3 Pro 8K PC Esports Green Edition gamepad ($209.99)
• Kitsune Esports Green Edition ($309.99)

Razer says it's also releasing an Esports Green edition of the Raiju V3 Pro PS5 controller, but is waiting for regulatory clearance. Presumably that has something to do with President Trump's ongoing tariff situation that's been wreaking havoc with all sorts of imported gadgetry, gaming and otherwise. Everything else is available now from Razer's website using the links above.

Wes is a freelance writer (Freelance Wes, they call him) who has covered technology, gaming, and entertainment steadily since 2020 at Gizmodo, Tom's Hardware, Hardcore Gamer, and most recently, The Verge. Inside of him there are two wolves: one that thinks it wouldn't be so bad to start collecting game consoles again, and the other who also thinks this, but more strongly.

Halo, once the flagship Xbox exclusive, the video game Microsoft launched its first console with, has finally jumped ship. Microsoft has announced Halo: Campaign Evolved — a remake of the original game’s campaign — and it’s coming to PlayStation 5 day one.

The Unreal Engine 5 remake of the Bungie-developed 2001 campaign is set for launch in 2026 on PC, Xbox Series X and S, and, crucially, PS5. It is the first new Halo game since 2021’s Halo Infinite, and the first Halo ever to release on a PlayStation console. IGN has played Halo: Campaign Evolved and has all the details right here, including first info on the new three-mission prequel story arc. And yes, if you were wondering, there’s crossplay, which means Xbox, PC, and PlayStation owners can play Halo co-op together for the first time.

Halo: Campaign Evolved is the final nail in the coffin for the Xbox exclusive, then, although in truth the shooter series’ release on PlayStation does not come as any surprise. Xbox Game Studios is already one of the most prolific and successful publishers on PlayStation, and just this week Xbox president Sarah Bond called the idea of exclusive games “antiquated,” so Microsoft’s thinking on this is crystal clear.

But what has prompted Microsoft’s multiplatform push? A recent Bloomberg report alleged that Microsoft is pushing Xbox studios to deliver a 30% margin — much higher than the industry average — and one of the ways studios can help bring in more money is by releasing their games on rival platforms, such as PlayStation and Nintendo Switch as well as PC.

One prominent critic of the exclusive is former president and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment America Shawn Layden, who last year said that when a video game’s costs exceed $200 million, “exclusivity is your Achilles’ heel.”

“It reduces your addressable market,” Layden told GamesBeat, before citing the success of Arrowhead’s Helldivers 2, which launched on PlayStation 5 and PC to explosive success. “Particularly when you’re in the world of live service gaming or free-to-play. Another platform is just another way of opening the funnel, getting more people in. In a free-to-play world, as we know, 95% of those people will never spend a nickel. The business is all about conversion. You have to improve your odds by cracking the funnel open. Helldivers 2 has shown that for PlayStation, coming out on PC at the same time. Again, you get that funnel wider. You get more people in.”

Layden said single-player games have a similar audience consideration as multiplayer games, though not exactly the same. “For single-player games it’s not the same exigency,” he said. “But if you’re spending $250 million, you want to be able to sell it to as many people as possible, even if it’s just 10% more.”

Layden’s comments echo those of former Xbox boss Peter Moore, who in a recent interview with IGN suggested Microsoft will be debating internally whether to release Xbox poster-child Halo on PlayStation.

“If Microsoft says, wait, we're doing $250 million on our own platforms, but if we then took Halo as, let's call it a third-party, we could do a billion… You got to think long and hard about that, right?” Moore said. “I mean, you just got to go, yeah, should it be kept? It's a piece of intellectual property. It's bigger than just a game. And how do you leverage that? Those are the conversations that always happen with, how do you leverage it in everything that we would do?”

Microsoft’s stance on exclusives has become one of the biggest talking points in the Xbox community, and that conversation will only grow louder now we know Halo has made the jump to PlayStation. Microsoft’s approach is in stark contrast to Nintendo and Sony’s. Nintendo has the most hardline policy on its games, releasing them on its consoles only. Sony has softened its approach in recent years, releasing its multiplayer, live service games on PC at the same time as PlayStation (and in the case of Helldivers 2, eventually on Xbox). But Sony still refuses to launch its big single-player games on anything other than PlayStation day one (the latest example of this is Sucker Punch's Ghost of Yotei).

Now Campaign Evolved is confirmed for PS5, there is no going back for Halo. Indeed, it seems Halo is from this day forward as much a PlayStation game as it is an Xbox game. Speaking tonight on a panel at the Halo World Championships 2025, Halo Community Director, Brian Jarrard, teased: "It's really a new era. Halo is on PlayStation going forward, starting with Halo: Campaign Evolved."

Be sure to check out everything announced at Halo Studios’ Halo: Campaign Evolved panel for more.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect when I sat down in front of an Xbox Series X to play an early demo of Halo: Campaign Evolved, the just-announced Unreal Engine 5 remake of the original-Xbox killer app (and yes, it’s a proper remake, not a remaster like Halo Anniversary was). And I’m honestly still not sure exactly how I feel about it after playing it. I definitely wanted to be blown away by the visuals, in the same way that the original Halo: Combat Evolved knocked my socks off back in 2001. Heck, we know Unreal Engine 5 is fully capable! I also didn’t want Halo Studios (nee 343 Industries) to mess with too much. Or did I? Would Halo 1 just feel old no matter what? And will PlayStation 5 gamers even care about this 25-year-old Xbox classic when it hits Sony’s consoles for the first time ever, day-and-date with Xbox and PC? So I went in with lots of questions, and I left with, well…some answers. Let me explain.

I suppose we might as well start with the obvious: how it looks. Is my face properly melted? No. But maybe yours is? I’ll be curious to read the comments on this one. Anyway, Campaign Evolved does look very nice, no doubt. It certainly doesn’t look like it’s two decades old anymore. I played a chunk of the legendary Silent Cartographer mission from early in the campaign, and the skybox is beautiful, the water looks great, the trees look very nice, and the terrain texture looks sharp and clean. Once you get indoors, the alien architecture has a unique sheen to it that the original obviously never had. Meanwhile, the weapons all look exactly how you’d expect them to look in the modern era, and the Grunts, Jackals, Elites, and Hunters all look convincingly new rather than reskins of quarter-century-old creatures. Everything looks clean, but not in a soulless way. At least not to me. It works as a cohesive art-directed space in the new engine. I appreciate that VO from the principal actors (read: Steve Downes and Jen Taylor, at the very least) has been rerecorded, while mocap has all been redone for the rebuilt-from-scratch cutscenes.

But let’s talk about my biggest concern coming into this demo: the classic Halo feel. Movement, aiming, jumping, vehicle controls – it’s all got to have that semi-floaty Halo feel to it, and I’m pleased to report that even in this very early state, Campaign Evolved is a good bit of the way there. No doubt they’ll continue to tweak it over the coming months – this release has no official release date beyond “2026,” by the way, but I’d be stunned if it’s not timed to release at or very near the 25th anniversary of Halo: Combat Evolved in November of next year – but there have been some gameplay modernizations implemented here that have been ported back from subsequent Halos into this remake, and while purists might bristle at it, most of these seem like they’re for the best for a 2026 first-person shooter release.

For starters, vehicles are boardable and destructible now, as they were in subsequent Halo games. That means a Ghost can no longer torment you endlessly, nor are you effectively invulnerable in a Scorpion tank. On a related note, a fourth player can now sit on the back of a Warthog. Oh, and though I didn’t get to try it out on The Silent Cartographer, the Wraith is drivable now, too, as it first became in Halo 2. Also, any weapons the bad guys wield, you can too. As such, the Energy Sword is now in your toolbelt if you take one off the corpse of a Gold Elite. Halo Studios says there will be eight weapons in Campaign Evolved that aren’t new to Halo but are usable for the first time in Master Chief’s first adventure. On the movement front, sprint has also been added. It’s not on a cooldown; you can run endlessly. I could see this one annoying the Halo 1 purists most of all, but not only do the developers say you can turn it off, but you can also just…not use it. I found it handy when running down the beach back towards my mission objective after wandering off to go stare at more of the new Unreal Engine 5-rendered spaces.

What about co-op? After Halo Studios fumbled that in Halo Infinite, you’re probably wondering about it for the remake. Two-player split-screen is confirmed, though sadly it wasn’t available in my short preview build, and the development team also promises four-player online co-op with full cross-play and cross-progression support. As for proper competitive multiplayer, though? Unfortunately, the answer to that is right in the name of this remake: Campaign Evolved. There’s no multiplayer here, which is a shame because it’d sure be fun to see Blood Gulch or Sidewinder or Hang ‘Em High in Unreal Engine 5 with online cross-play support. I asked Halo Studios about this, and Executive Producer Damon Conn gave me an extremely media-trained answer, saying the team is “very focused on recreating the original campaign that started it all” and “[Halo] Infinite and [Master Chief Collection] provide really great experiences for multiplayer.” Sure…for Xbox and PC players. That doesn’t help new PS5 players fall in love with Halo’s glorious multiplayer, though. Presumably they didn’t want to pull any players away from MCC for this, and/or adding full multiplayer support would’ve likely meant the project couldn’t get done in time for the 25th anniversary. But it’s still disappointing.

That led me to wonder about pricing. Would this be a full-price $70 release (or perhaps even $80 by the time it comes out, since Microsoft already tried to push to that price point this year)? Or will it be priced lower – particularly since it’s campaign-only? The Halo Studios team wouldn’t say when I asked them directly, so that remains to be seen. Personally, $50 feels right for this, but that’s just my opinion. I also think that $20 per month feels like the right price for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate…

OK, so no multiplayer, but there is one significant addition I’m legitimately excited about: a new three-mission prequel campaign that revolves around Master Chief and Sergeant Johnson. This could be extremely cool, but unfortunately that’s literally all we know so far. In fact, Halo Studios wouldn’t even tell me if it’s accessible out of the box or if you have to complete the campaign in order to unlock it. I also asked if they’d be repurposing existing music from the Halo 1 soundtrack to score those missions, or if they might commission something new (dare I dream they reach out to Marty O’Donnell himself!), and they didn’t have an answer for me there either.

Getting back to gameplay, I must say that I still had fun hooning across the beaches of The Silent Cartographer in a Warthog, my UNSC Marine buddies in the passenger and gunner seats helping to mow down Covenant bad guys while I attempted to turn them into hood ornaments with my front bumper. Just like old times. I also manned the gun turret at one point to test out the friendly AI and…it still needs work. In fact, someone on the development team acknowledged this later without me bringing it up, so it’s clearly something they’re aware of. Honestly, though, it’s not something I’m even worried about when there’s still (probably) upwards of a year of development time left. It’s the same with the framerate: no doubt some folks went straight to the comments to note any inconsistencies they saw (because I definitely noticed some), and while it is certainly important, it’s not something I’m sweating this far away from the end of the project.

Oh, and I should also mention that Halo Studios is adding Skulls to Campaign Evolved. Lots of them, in fact. “Dozens” was the word they used, with an emphasis on this remake having the most Skulls of any Halo campaign ever. Replayability is clearly a focus for the studio here – which is understandable, given Halo’s strong history in that department as well as the lack of adversarial multiplayer – and hopefully the Skulls will spice things up for Xbox players running through this thing for the umpteenth time.

On that note, I couldn’t help but wonder if PlayStation 5 players getting their first crack at Halo are really going to care about this in a way that turns a lot of them into new fans of the franchise. It’s a genuine question; I’ve got a lot of personal history with Halo, so I simply can’t answer this one. For someone with no nostalgia for Master Chief, will those players find Campaign Evolved as compelling as I found Combat Evolved? And if they do, then what? Will Halo Studios remake Halo 2 in Unreal Engine 5? And then 3? 4? 5? Reach? ODST? Infinite? Or will they just port The Master Chief Collection and Halo Infinite to PS5 to catch those players up? I asked the team about this and again got a very media-trained half-answer: “There is an opportunity for us to grow the fanbase,” Executive Producer Damon Conn told me. “We're bringing the most players, we believe, to Halo, ever. And so that growth is what we're truly interested in, and again, I hinted before this paves the way for future stories and Halos.”

And so, as you can now see, I’m still left with many unanswered questions about this remake project. But to Halo Studios' credit, this early demo did answer a couple of key ones about how good it could look and how Halo-y it could feel. So far so good there. I’m very excited about the new three-mission prequel campaign featuring Sergeant Johnson, as it will be the first new single-player content in a Halo game in, by that point, five years. Can Campaign Evolved relight Halo’s spark? That’s the biggest question of all, and it’ll have to remain unanswered for a bit longer.

Ryan McCaffrey is IGN's executive editor of previews and host of both IGN's weekly Xbox show, Podcast Unlocked, as well as our monthly(-ish) interview show, IGN Unfiltered. He's a North Jersey guy, so it's "Taylor ham," not "pork roll." Debate it with him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan.

Microsoft and Halo Studios have just announced Halo: Campaign Evolved, an Unreal Engine 5 remake of the 2001 original-Xbox launch-day classic, Halo: Combat Evolved. I played a short demo of it already, so be sure to check out my first impressions, but here we’ll go through everything we do and don’t yet know about 2026’s Halo release – which will be the first one since 2021’s Halo Infinite.

Did you say “remake”?

Yes, I asked Halo Studios point-blank if this is a remake or a remaster, and Executive Producer Damon Conn said, “It’s a modernized remake – a rebuilt version of the classic story that started it all.”

Since Microsoft has been publishing a lot of games on other platforms, does this mean Halo will be coming to PlayStation 5?

Yes, Halo: Campaign Evolved will be released for Xbox Series X|S, PC, and PS5. And yes, I did clarify with Halo Studios that the PS5 version will be released day-and-date with the Xbox and PC versions.

Is this weirder than Sonic games coming to Nintendo consoles?

It’s at least on that same level of weird, yeah.

Is Halo Studios adding any PS5 Pro enhancements?

I asked this question, and Game Director Greg Hermann didn’t say much, only telling me, “It’s safe to say that it will be tuned for the target devices.”

OK, so when will Halo: Campaign Evolved be released?

So far, all Halo Studios will say is “2026,” but it seems highly likely that it will be released close to the 25th anniversary of Combat Evolved’s release, which will be on November 16, 2026. In other words, Fall 2026 seems like a safe bet.

Campaign Evolved? Does that mean there’s no multiplayer?

Sort of. There is campaign co-op for two players in split-screen, or up to four players online. Cross-play is supported.

Wait, cross-play? Does that mean I can play co-op with a friend who’s on PS5 while I’m on Xbox or PC?

Yup.

Finish the multiplayer thought. What do you mean by “sort of” with multiplayer?

As the name suggests, this is campaign-only. When I asked about why they’re not also remaking Halo 1’s fantastic multiplayer in Unreal Engine 5 – think about how glorious Blood Gulch and Hang ‘Em High and Sidewinder would look in UE5! – Game Director Greg Hermann told me, “Right now we’re just focused on the 25th anniversary and the campaign here.” Executive Producer Damon Conn added, “Halo Infinite and [Halo: The Master Chief Collection] provide really great experiences for multiplayer.” Which is true…though that doesn’t help PS5 owners very much. Unless…

Does this pave the way for Halo: The Master Chief Collection and Halo Infinite to get ported to PS5 to get PlayStation players caught up on the series?

We’ll have to check back on that one. Conn said, “There is an opportunity for us to grow the fanbase. We’re bringing the most players to Halo ever. So that growth is what we’re truly interested in. And this paves the way for future stories and Halos.” So…maybe?

Will Campaign Evolved be a full-price game?

I asked but didn’t get an answer. Personally, $50 feels right to me without proper multiplayer, but Microsoft already tried to raise its first-party game prices to $80 this year, so I’m probably being naively optimistic with that $50 thought. At least there’s new single-player content here, though.

Did you just say “new single-player content”?

Yes! I didn’t get any details beyond the very basic description: Campaign Evolved will include a three-mission prequel story arc revolving around Master Chief and Sergeant Johnson. I asked if those missions will be available straight out of the box or if they’ll need to be unlocked, perhaps by completing the campaign. Halo Studios did not have an answer for me.

Are there any gameplay changes?

Yes, lots of little ones, actually. Vehicles are now destructible and they can be hijacked, as they were in every subsequent Halo game after Combat Evolved. You can also now pick up and wield any weapon the enemies can, which means you’ll have access to the Energy Sword, among others, in this campaign. The Warthog has four seats now (the extra one is on the back, like riding on the lowered tailgate of a pickup truck), and you can pilot a Wraith tank. I didn’t get to see any of the Flood in the chunk of The Silent Cartographer mission I played, but Halo Studios says they’ve implemented dismemberment for Flood enemies. The team also told me that “level design has been thoughtfully updated” to smooth out pain points. Presumably they meant the Library, but they didn’t specify. Also, the cinematics have all been completely redone, with new mocap and freshly rerecorded dialogue from Steve Downes (Master Chief) and Jen Taylor (Cortana).

Any other updates?

One other notable one: Skulls! Halo Studios is adding Skulls to Campaign Evolved, and lots of ‘em. The most Skulls ever in a Halo campaign, apparently, and the total number is “dozens.”

Does it still feel like Halo in Unreal Engine 5?

In my brief experience so far, I’d say yes. See my preview for more about that.

We’ll have much more on Halo: Campaign Evolved as development progresses, so stay tuned! In the meantime, be sure to tune in to our weekly Xbox show, Unlocked, for long-form discussion on everything happening in the world of Xbox.

Ryan McCaffrey is IGN's executive editor of previews and host of both IGN's weekly Xbox show, Podcast Unlocked, as well as our monthly(-ish) interview show, IGN Unfiltered. He's a North Jersey guy, so it's "Taylor ham," not "pork roll." Debate it with him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan.

The new Apple iPhone 17 is now available and as usual, the best way to score a deal on these new phones is through your preferred service provider. T-Mobile, now the best mobile network in the US (according to Ookla® Speedtest®), is already advertising a couple of promotions, including excellent trade-in values on older iPhone models. If you're porting your number over from another service, then you may not even need to trade in your existing phone.

Get up to $1,100 off the New Apple iPhone 17 Pro with Trade-In

You might think buying an iPhone outright isn't really a deal, and technically you'd be correct, but there's a good chance that you might actually be saving money in the long run. If you're looking to purchase an iPhone 7 and don't expect to replace it in a year or two, the Metro by T-Mobile BYOD plan might end up being the best choice for you.

The Metro by T-Mobile plan offers one line of unlimited talk, text, and 5G data for $30 for the first month and $25 per month afterwards with AutoPay. Taxes and fees are already included. You're guaranteed this price for 5 years, although being a prepaid plan, you're free to opt out at any time. In addition, you get perks like Scam Shield, which enables Caller ID and blocks or redirects spam calls, and T-Mobile Tuesdays, a program that gives you access to freebies and exclusive discounts every Tuesday. Note that speeds may slow if you go over a soft cap of greater than 35GB per month.

The Metro plan only costs $25 per month, compared to $85 for the Experience More plan and $100 for the Experience Beyond plan. That's a difference of $60-$70 every month on your phone bill. If you hold onto your phone for 3 years, you're saving $2,160 to $2,520 on your bill. That's plenty of savings to afford your next iPhone upgrade down the line.

Note that some exclusions apply. See details at MetrobyT-Mobile.com.

Apple iPhone 17 Phones Released on September 19

Apple recently released three iPhone models: the iPhone 17, iPhone Air, and iPhone 17 Pro/Pro Max. The Apple iPhone 17 starts at $799.99 and is available in both 256GB and 512GB capacities. Major upgrades include a slightly larger 6.3" OLED display with 120Hz ProMotion refresh rate, a more powerful A19 processor, higher resolution ultra-wide and selfie cameras, and longer battery life with faster charging.

The Apple iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max start at $1,099.99 ($1,199.99 for the Pro Max) and are available in 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB capacities. They carry over the same 6.3" and 6.9" screens of their predecessors but the screens are 50% brighter with up to 3,000nit rating. Other upgrades include an A19 Pro processor with more RAM, higher resolution ultra-wide and selfie-cameras, and longer battery life and faster charging.

The iPhone 16 Plus has been replaced by the new iPhone 17 Air. It starts at $999.99 and is available in 256GB, 512G, and 1TB capacities. The iPhone 17 Air measures only 0.22" thin and weighs less than 6 ounces. It features a 6.5" 120Hz ProMotion display with up to 2,000nits of brightness and the new A19 Pro processor (although with fewer GPU cores than the iPhone 17 Pro model). The thin form factor limits this phone to a single 48MP ultra-wide rear camera, although you do also get the new 18MP Center Stage selfie cam.

Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn't hunting for deals for other people at work, he's hunting for deals for himself during his free time.

Halo is coming to PlayStation 5 (PS5).

Halo Studios made an appearance at the Halo World Championship 2025 to announce that its previously teased new project is a Halo: Combat Evolved Remake titled Halo: Campaign Evolved, and it’s coming to PC, Xbox Series X | S, and yes, even PS5. It’s a move that will see what is perhaps the most important Xbox-exclusive franchise coming to PlayStation for the first time.

Following numerous past remasters and PS5 ports, news that a remake of the original Halo is coming to PS5 isn’t much of a surprise, but it is a sign that Xbox’s relationship with Sony may just be getting started. The Halo Studios team had plenty more to talk about during its Halo: Campaign Evolved stream, so be sure to catch up on everything they had to share in our coverage below. You can also check out IGN’s hands-on preview, as well as our breakdown for everything we know so far.

What Is Microsoft’s Mysterious Halo Studios Project Update?

The Halo World Championship 2025 broadcast is running a bit behind, but that isn't stopping Microsoft from letting it slip that Halo: Campaign Evolved is on the way. An Xbox store page for the game, which is described as "a faithful yet modernized remake of Halo: Combat Evolved’s campaign," appeared online today, just moments after the Halo Project Update stream was set to go live.

"Experience the original story rebuilt with high-definition visuals, updated cinematics, and refined controls, plus three brand-new prequel missions featuring the Master Chief and Sgt. Johnson," its official description says. "A broader arsenal of weapons, vehicles, enemies, and gameplay-modifying 'Skulls' – optional modifiers that change combat in fun and challenging ways – add fresh tactics and endless replayability."

As revealed in a trailer shown on its store page, Halo: Campaign Evolved has a release window of 2026, with platforms including PC and Xbox Series X | S – and even PlayStation 5.

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