Halo due on PC next year
Microsoft finally tips its hand
Ever since Bungie was bought out by Microsoft and their latest project Halo became primarily an Xbox title, the company has kept on promising that original plans for PC and Macintosh versions were still alive. But details were ominously thin on the ground, and Microsoft themselves were keeping quiet on the subject, leaving many fans sceptical. Given that Halo pretty much sold the Xbox single handed, with most people who bought the console picking up a copy of the futuristic first person shooter as well, you can hardly blame Microsoft for staying schtum about any possible port. Now the wait is finally over though, as Microsoft have officially confirmed for the first time that PC and Mac versions of the game are indeed in the works at last, and that both should be available some time next year. Rather than tying up Bungie for another year, Microsoft have instead farmed out the project to two other development studios - Westlake Interactive for the Mac version, and Gearbox Software for the PC. "We've been dying to play Halo online with a PC ever since its spectacular launch last year", Gearbox president Randy Pitchford enthused. "The team at Gearbox has the experience and the talent to not only bring Halo to the PC, but also to add enhancements that exploit the multiplayer capabilities that PCs are known for." Indeed, Gearbox have carved out something of a niche for themselves over the last few years, developing a host of add-on packs, spin-offs and console ports for Half-Life, as well as handling the PC versions of Tony Hawk 3 and EA's forthcoming James Bond game NightFire. It will be interesting to see what they can do with Halo, particularly when it comes to adding proper online support to a game that was only designed with split-screen and network play in mind. Of course, the big question is, will they cut that damn library level down to size? Related Feature - Halo review (Xbox)
