Halo and Xbox’s Future Handheld Could Be a Match Made in Heaven

Posted by By our-little-miss-is-home December 7, 2024 13 Views 6 Min Read
Halo and Xbox's Future Handheld Could Be a Match Made in Heaven



Both Xbox and the Halo franchise are going through some pretty big changes right now. Back in October, Xbox announced that developer 343 Industries would be changing its name to Halo Studios, and that all future Halo projects would now be using Unreal Engine 5. This year, Xbox itself has also entered a new chapter in its life, with several of its first-party games being ported to PlayStation and Nintendo consoles, and more of an emphasis being placed on the idea of Xbox not just being the console itself, but the wider brand.




Xbox’s future plans seem more open and diverse than ever before, and that’s exemplified by the confirmation that an Xbox handheld console is officially in development. Confirmed by Phil Spencer in a Bloomberg interview in November, an Xbox handheld is currently being worked on, though it might still be a few years until it’s in players’ hands. But when the Xbox handheld does eventually hit store shelves, it could be a haven for Halo‘s future.

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Xbox’s Future Handheld Could Be a Perfect Place for Halo

Halo Doesn’t Have a Great Rep on Handhelds

Halo is the ideal franchise for handheld gaming. The fast-paced arena shooter gameplay of an average Halo multiplayer match, the shorter duration of rounds, and the relatively simple control scheme makes Halo a natural fit for short handheld play-sessions. But unfortunately, there isn’t currently a way to play Halo properly on a handheld device.


The Steam Deck is a phenomenal handheld that’s capable of some real magic, but it’s a bit lacking when it comes to Halo. While Halo: Master Chief Collection and Halo Infinite are both technically playable on the Steam Deck via Steam, both suffer from severe technical issues, especially if players aren’t willing to spend a decent amount of time tweaking in-game settings.

The Steam Deck can also be used to remote play from an Xbox Series X/S, and while players with a strong internet connection might find more success streaming Halo: MCC or Halo Infinite via remote play or Xbox’s Cloud service, it’s still not an ideal scenario.

The Xbox Handheld Could Finally Deliver a Great Portable Halo Experience

When the Xbox handheld arrives, it needs to come with some kind of native support for the Halo franchise. At the bare minimum, this should mean a fully-functional version of both Halo Infinite and Halo: Master Chief Collection that’s running on the device itself and not some external source like the Cloud or remote play.


With the handheld still a few years out, it would also hopefully come with the ability to play whatever new Halo entry might release between now and then, such as the rumored Halo: Combat Evolved remaster. Having the ability to essentially play the whole Halo franchise on Xbox’s handheld would be a major boon for the upcoming console, especially if spinoffs like Halo Wars also ran natively at launch.

Additionally, Halo is still widely regarded as Xbox’s flagship franchise. When marketing the new handheld console, it’d be smart for Xbox to put Halo right at the center, cementing the handheld console as a true Xbox product that’s home to the franchises that have always been synonymous with the brand.

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