Halo: Combat Evolved is getting new content for the first time in decades

Cut-content from Halo: Combat Evolved is being restored in Halo MCC, thanks to a collaboration between 343 Industries and modders.

The old (and best) Halo games received new-life with Halo: The Master Chief Collection, which currently features six Halo games, complete with their original campaigns and multiplayer offerings. This includes Halo 1-4, as well as spin-off titles Halo: Reach and Halo 3: ODST.

See the trailer for the latest Halo: Infinite update below

343 Industries has been frequently updating the game, fixing a variety of bugs and glitches, but also restoring and adding new content to the old titles, like bonus collectables, weapon/vehicle skins and more. The developers also partnered with the modding team Digsite, which has been hard at work uncovering unreleased data and assets in the hopes it can be added to the full game.

This includes: “Design/production docs, Bungie feedback notes, tags, compiled maps, and source data for previously unseen multiplayer maps,” in addition to, “Brand-new textures that were not being used whatsoever.” Something of even greater interest though is the full original demo of the 1999 Halo: Combat Evolved Macworld demo, which was thought to be lost to time. The demo features an early build of the game, which was originally planned to be an RTS exclusively for Mac. The game was then changed to a third-person-shooter, before being converted into the FPS we all know and love.

Digsite said, “It took some work to get running in MCC. We’ve set it up as a sandbox to play in, explore, and repurpose for your own mods.” Players will get to explore the demo freely, and experience vehicles and enemy types that didn’t find their way into the full release.

It’s likely this content will only be available for MCC players on PC, as the Xbox version doesn’t currently have access to mods, which could change in the future provided 343 Industries can moderate what’s available. Other highly requested features include crossplay multiplayer, 4-player co-op for Halo CE and Halo 2, as well as several new control settings for controller/mouse and keyboard players.

While no release date for the next big update has been given, it’ll likely launch either late this year or early next year, bringing in an array of new features for Xbox and PC platforms.