The death of 343 Industries and Halo Studios, whether you view it as the right call or not, has brought an enormous amount of drama with it. We aren't going to dive into that mess today. Instead, I want to highlight something that has been somewhat buried in the noise: a community-driven effort has ported the original Halo: Combat Evolved to a host of devices.

We are talking about your web browser, Android, Linux, and yes, even the PS4 and PS5. All of these ports support full multiplayer and campaign modes. For the PlayStation crowd, you will of course need a jailbroken device, which has become a relatively straightforward process.

Beyond the basic ports, we are seeing other Halo mods emerge, a new Halo 3 port on PC, and new modes for Halo: CE that support up to 128 players. Is this effectively making Halo x Battlefield a reality? Maybe.

Of course, these projects are largely driven by AI-powered tools, or at least most are anyway. With Claude recently releasing Opus 5.5, the barrier to entry for this kind of work has dropped significantly, so make of that what you will.

Regarding Halo, Combat Evolved was also recently decompiled, again thanks to AI, which is also likely why we're seeing a surge in mods for the game.

The scope is genuinely wild. We even have Halo: CE running on a Nintendo 3DS, and unrelated to Halo, there's even a project showcasing Minecraft inside Elden Ring. Yes, that exists, and it is pretty crazy to see.

Personally, I am somewhat indifferent about these things. I find it rather cool that the community is pushing the boundaries of what is possible, but I do worry about the long-term implications of AI being able to transform games to this extent. It raises some interesting questions about what it might mean for multiplayer titles in the future, especially if AI can start reverse engineering games.

With all that said, do let me know your thoughts in the comments. Whether you agree with where I sit on this matter or disagree, both opinions are welcome!

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Xbox’s disc-to-digital feature has been in testing for insiders for about a month now, and the momentum is picking up. Ubisoft joined the program not long ago, and SEGA has now seemingly followed suit.

Beyond the new publisher participation, there have been some tweaks to how the feature actually works. So, let’s go over what’s changed.

If you’ve been living under a rock and aren’t sure what this fabled feature is, I’ll quickly explain. Disc-to-digital allows you to insert participating discs into your Xbox One or Series X console to obtain a digital license. Once you have that license, you can keep playing the game without the disc even being inserted. It also unlocks access to the game on other platforms if it’s a Play Anywhere title, as well as through cloud gaming.

With that out of the way, how exactly is the experience changing? The digital entitlement is now granted automatically when you insert a disc, rather than requiring a manual step from the menu. Additionally, the service will only provide a full-screen explanation on your first digital entitlement. For any subsequent games, you’ll just see a simple toast notification.

Perhaps the biggest update, however, is that fans have started noticing select SEGA games allowing digital entitlement. Titles like Persona 5 Royal are already in. If all SEGA games work out similarly, that would add another 44 games to the program.

For those keeping count, or if you follow @XCTdotLIVE on X (formerly Twitter), that brings the current disc-to-digital count to 1,585 games, with 205 games currently not in the service. Considering the feature is still in testing, I’m personally expecting that figure to grow, especially as more publishers get on board.

Currently, publishers who aren’t participating include Bandai Namco and Square Enix. While I can’t speak much for Bandai Namco, I do presume that, given Square’s fondness for Xbox as of late, we’ll at the very least see them get on board at some stage.

Xbox’s disc-to-digital feature continues to impress. At least, I’m impressed anyway; in fact, it even got me buying physical games again. It’s a bit of a shame to think we could have had such a forward-thinking feature as far back as the Xbox One, but I digress.

Let me know your thoughts on disc-to-digital, what games you want to see enter the service that haven’t already, and anything else that comes to mind in the comments.

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Heroes of the Storm fans, rejoice: Blizzard has not forgotten you. Yes, shocking many, I’m sure. Blizzard has just released a new blog post announcing that Xal’atath is joining Heroes of the Storm alongside a major new update.

That’s right: for the first time in almost six years, the game is receiving a brand-new hero, making her the 91st to join the Nexus.

To celebrate the launch, fans can earn exclusive Twitch drops starting today, September 28, at 9:00 am PT, through October 5 at 11:59 pm PT. Rewards scale with watch time, ranging from 1,000 gold for an hour to Epic and Legendary loot chests, and even an Epic Deadly Chaos Wolf at the eight-hour mark.

Now, my personal knowledge of Heroes of the Storm is limited, but the blog post does detail the new hero. Xal’atath is a ranged assassin, and her ability kit is as follows:

• Trait - Void Volley. Basic attacks build Soul Essence; at full Essence, unleash a barrage of void orbs at a target area while moving freely.
• Q - Shadow Mark. Cast a large Void Orb that marks enemy Heroes hit by its inner radius; the Dark Heart moves to the impact point and detonates on marked enemy Heroes.
• W - Dark Heart Ritual. Summon the Dark Heart talisman to pulse void energy at nearby enemies, then follow and detonate on any Shadow Marked Hero.
• E - Void Step. Blink between three points in a triangular pattern, gaining attack damage at each stop; can be cancelled early to reposition or escape.
• Heroic - Void Eruption. Channel a growing void orb, launch it to blind enemies and dominate space, then detonate in a large area - cast on the Dark Heart for an instant, fully empowered eruption.
• Heroic - Void Convergence. Summon a portal that spawns relentless void minions to overwhelm nearby enemies, replacing fallen minions until the portal ends or is destroyed.

Xal’atath is a paid hero, available for $7.99 right now. For those who prefer to use gold, Blizzard aims to make her available for gold later this year, tentatively set for the end of November.

Outside of this new hero, Blizzard details a bunch of other stuff in the blog post, which you should check out, including a teaser that more might be to come... Fans of Heroes of the Storm seemingly have a lot to be excited about, and I for one hope the game can stick it to other MOBAs.

Do let me know your thoughts in the comments, whether you’re excited, not excited, or somewhere in between. And with that, do be sure to take part in our poll below:

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Winhanced is a launcher that essentially replaces Xbox Mode on your Windows handheld. Instead of simply fullscreening the Xbox app, Winhanced gives you a fully featured user interface that connects to your Xbox, Steam, GOG, and Epic libraries, alongside support for emulators, other apps, and much more.

I've talked quite extensively about Winhanced here on Windows Central, using the launcher for quite some time on my own handhelds, and seen it in both its current, near-complete state and its not-so-complete state a few months back.

The launcher is nearing version 1.0, which I’m sure I’ll cover when it releases, as the sneak peek I’ve seen — and will discuss closer to release — is extremely exciting. However, version 0.9.9.9 is available today and boasts new features and improvements. These are just a few that caught my attention:

• Friend cards, letting you message your friends, see what they’re doing, view their profiles, and more. (Public)
• Better integration with Discord, Steam, Xbox, and PlayStation. (Public)
• PC streaming through the new Winhanced Streaming Companion. (Public)
• Install Windows updates without leaving Winhanced. (Public)
• Improved driver detection for updating your handheld’s drivers through Winhanced. (Public)
• Game theme music, including the option to choose your own tracks. (Public)
• Improved Epic and GOG downloads, including resumable downloads. (Public)
• Create your own collections for easier access to different groups of games. (Early Access)
• A Discord server browser that can be navigated with a controller. (Early Access)

Those are just a handful of the additions, and 0.9.9.9 also includes substantial behind-the-scenes work to improve how Winhanced works in general, making it a pretty seamless experience. If you're interested, I urge you to join the Winhanced Discord and check out the full release notes because there’s simply far too much for me to reasonably cram into one overextended post without getting into the weeds.

I’ve moaned since the day I got my Xbox Ally X about just how unpolished and, frankly, disappointing the user experience was. Winhanced has genuinely changed that for me, though, and made me much more willing to pick up my Xbox Ally X and actually play games on it, which isn’t something I can say for the other launchers I’ve tried.

If you’ve tried Winhanced before and found it too buggy, I’d suggest giving it another shot now. A big part of 0.9.9.9 focused on squashing hardware-related bugs and improving consistency across supported handhelds, with the developer describing this release's device consistency as finally at a "1.0 level."

If Winhanced isn’t your thing, though, that’s okay too. Xbox Mode is improving, but I'll still use this instead. Let me know your thoughts in the comments, or just drop a vote on the poll!

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I’m sure it needs no recap at this point, but Halo Studios is no more. Well, mostly no more, as the studio has reportedly been left with just 20 or so employees, while Activision has now taken on the mantle of responsibility for Halo.

Regardless of your thoughts on the matter, @Mr_Rebs_, a prominent leaker within the Halo community, has spoken out about what he alleges Halo Studios had planned for the franchise’s future. Despite my grievances with Halo Studios and its poor management of the franchise, one of these plans actually doesn’t sound too bad.

However, given the letdown of Campaign Evolved, I personally have very little faith that Halo Studios could have seen these ideas through. So, without further ado, let’s dive into it.

According to Rebs, Halo Studios was reportedly working on Halo 2 and Halo 3 remakes, as well as Halo 7. However, these projects were apparently still years away.

More interesting to me, though, is the fourth project: a standalone spin-off campaign based on Halo: First Strike, a genuinely great novel by Eric Nylund.

First Strike, for those unaware, fills in the gaps between Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2, which genuinely would have been great to see adapted into a game. Apparently, the project was targeting a release next year, although development was still in its early stages.

Given the state Campaign Evolved was in, I really doubt we would have seen it within that timeframe, especially considering the reported plans to include around five campaign missions alongside a Firefight mode.

The Halo 2 and Halo 3 remakes, though, were almost a given and something we’ve reported on before, with Halo 2 even being teased at the end of Campaign Evolved.

Halo 7 was actually in the conceptual stages, with a concept for the game apparently presented to Matt Booty and other Xbox executives shortly before the recent changes at Halo Studios. According to Rebs, the plan was for Halo 7 to launch with Campaign, PvP, PvE, and Forge from day one.

Of the remaining staff at Halo Studios, Pierre Hintze (Studio Head) does remain, a figure of controversy within the community and according to Rebs, Pierre still has a plan, Rebs states:

If this is the case, I do hope Pierre is unsuccessful in these endeavors; the last thing Halo needs right now is AI slop.

As for the future, there are still a lot of unknowns, and I imagine it will be that way for a while; however, one rumor floating around suggests a reboot of sorts might be on the cards now that the IP is under Activision.

I’m personally happy with the changes being made to Halo. While I do have my reservations regarding Activision, there’s no doubt it has the infrastructure to support an IP as big as Halo.

And while my long-dreamed-of wish to see Halo’s books adapted into games is probably dead for the foreseeable future, I’d still much prefer a future where Halo Studios is no longer making Halo. Because yes, things really were that bad.

If you feel differently about everything, do let me know in the comments. I’ll be sure to respond, and as always, don’t forget to take part in our poll!

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