With Halo Infinite just around the corner, a recent leak suggested that a port of Halo 5 would also be releasing on PC in the near future. Currently, series fans can already play every other Halo title on PC thanks to the PC port of Halo: The Master Chief Collection that is available on Steam and through Xbox Game Pass for PC. This has left PC players hoping for a port of Halo 5 so that they can experience the entire series on the platform.
However, developer 343 Industries has spoken out to clarify that a Halo 5 PC port is not planned. While those plans could change in the future, it seems unlikely for the developers to do so. This is unfortunate for players on PC who want to experience Halo 5, but more recent announcements regarding how 343 Industries will be handling the franchise in the future don't seem to leave the possibility open.
The End of Seasonal Content for Halo: The Master Chief Collection
The biggest announcement that casts doubt on a PC port of Halo 5 is that Halo: The Master Chief Collection will no longer be receiving updates with seasonal content. The recently announced Season 8 will be the last seasonal update that the Master Chief Collection will receive. Developer 343 Industries explained that this was done so as to not compete with the free-to-play online multiplayer portion of Halo Infinite. The team also said that it was a necessary move so that developers that were previously dedicated to the updates could be freed up to work on other projects, like the planned seasonal updates for Halo Infinite.
The change to focus on Halo Infinite does make sense, but it is nonetheless disappointing for fans of The Master Chief Collection as well as players hoping to see Halo 5 on the platform as well. Porting Halo 5 to PC would also create more competition for Halo Infinite, and it seems unlikely that 343 Industries would want to dedicate the resources to doing so if it would only hurt their most recent release. The developers did clarify, however, that Halo: The Master Chief Collection will still receive updates every now and then to keep it worth playing after Halo Infinite releases. Those updates just will not be as sizable or as frequent as fans have enjoyed in recent years.
How Halo 5 Could Still Come to PC
Those periodic updates also provide a possibility for Halo 5 to come to PC in the future. Since adding the game to PC by itself would further divide the player base of Halo multiplayer, the developers may opt to add it to The Master Chief Collection instead to consolidate all players not playing Halo Infinite in one location. If the developers are really worried about splitting the player base, it could also be that Halo 5 gets added to The Master Chief Collection as a new campaign only, with the multiplayer mode left stranded on the Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S. This would allow PC players to experience all of Halo's story in one convenient package while not further splitting those looking for a more modern multiplayer experience.
Halo 5 is currently available on Xbox One.