Microsoft quietly cancels Halo Online on PC

Back in March of last year, Microsoft revealed that it had hired a Russian developer to re-create Halo multiplayer on the PC using a modified version of the Halo 3 engine. There was a catch though, the game was free to play and strictly limited to Russia. Obviously, it didn't take long for series fans to get hold of the closed alpha, crack it, remove microtransactions and offer the game up to everyone regardless of region.

Saber Interactive, the team that was working on Halo Online announced this week that Microsoft has made the decision to cancel the game entirely. The exact reasons are unclear, perhaps it was slow development, or perhaps Microsoft didn't want those living outside of Russia to continue cracking the game and playing it, either way, we don't know for sure.

Microsoft has had a history of keeping Halo off of the PC platform ever since the Xbox 360 first launched. However, the publisher is finally warming up to the idea, with Halo 5: Forge coming to the PC next month and Halo Wars 2 arriving in February, so perhaps Microsoft will revisit the idea of traditional Halo multiplayer on the PC in the future.

KitGuru Says: I managed to try out the modded version of Halo Online at one point and it wasn't half bad. The graphics were a little dated having been from the Xbox 360 era but outside of that, Halo with a mouse and keyboard is about as fun as you'd expect it to be. While this cancellation is a shame for the developers working on the project, hopefully it means Microsoft has something more official in-mind for PC gamers down the road. 

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