With Halo 3 finally coming to PC along with the Halo: The Master Chief Collection, 343 Industries has started to take advantage of the new release in order to update the 13 year old game. This includes a number of new customization options, as well as implementing new content to different sections of the collection, including Halo 3's companion title Halo: ODST.
Announced on Halo Waypoint, the official website for the Halo series, including Halo 3, the July Update outlines what 343 Industries has planned for the full Master Chief Collection in future updates. Possibly coming alongside customization options available in Halo Infinite, the next update will be allowing players to customize themselves in Halo 3 in ways previously unavailable in the game, including new visors and weapon skins.
It's the addition of the weapon skins that is completely new to Halo 3, revealed in the July Update by Design Director Max Szlagor when looking at what 343 Industries has planned for the next season of Halo: The Master Chief Collection. These skins will become available for completing challenges and working through the seasonal progression in order to unlock them to use in the online multiplayer and show off against other players. According to Szlagor, this will be the first step in additional customization coming to Halo 3 as the seasons continue to move forward for the entire collection.
The post does show what at least one of the skins might look like (shown above), and Technical Designer Dana Jerpback's comments also allude to a gold skin being available for at least some weapons. Aside from these few highlights, there isn't much information about exactly how many skins are coming when Season 3 starts and these weapon alterations release. However, 343 Industries added similar customization to Halo: Combat Evolved, so it's fairly likely that players will find similar options when the skins release in Halo 3.
Looking at everything 343 Industries has been doing with the Master Chief Collection, it seems like the developer is testing the waters for the rumored Battle Pass in Halo Infinite. Considering how fans reacted to monetization in Halo 5: Guardians, it makes sense that the developer would want to be careful about implementing another monetized system for the next installment in the series. So, testing how the market will react to the upcoming features in the next game through an older and beloved title within the series makes sense as a way of both tempering player expectation, as well as gauging the limits that fans will accept the progression system in the future.
Halo 3 is available now for PC, Xbox One, and Xbox 360.
Source: halowaypoint.com