Halo: Campaign Evolved Debuts Its First Collab

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Later this year, Xbox is celebrating its 25th anniversary. While several new games are planned to mark the occasion, Microsoft hasn’t shared much information or actively promoted them yet.

Take Gears of War: E-Day for example. It was first announced almost two years ago, but we’re only getting more details this June during an Xbox Direct. The game is currently planned to release in late 2026.

I remember when they first showed off Halo: Campaign Evolved, the remake of the original Halo: Combat Evolved. It was back in October 2025, just a quick peek at gameplay. But honestly, we haven’t seen much about the game since then, even though there’s been talk of it coming out this summer. It’s been pretty quiet, and I’m starting to wonder what’s going on with it.

Microsoft recently revealed the first new content for Campaign Evolved through a surprising and somewhat troubling partnership with the Fanta soft drink brand.

Halo: Campaign Evolved’s New Fanta Skin Explained

To mark 25 years of Xbox, a special promotion with Fanta is launching in April. Fans will be able to find limited-edition Fanta cans and bottles featuring artwork from popular Xbox games and characters.

Every Fanta can and bottle has a QR code that you can scan to unlock digital challenges on Xbox. These challenges – called Extract the Cargo, Survive the Sweep, and Shatter the Spell – are part of the Fanta Rewards Chest program.

After finishing these tasks, players have a chance to win prizes in a raffle, like a ROG Xbox Ally, an Xbox Series S, an Xbox controller, or a month of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. They can also complete the tasks to earn special items to use within the game, such as:

  • A Fantastical Goblin Waveshredder Mount for World of Warcraft
  • A Tactical Orange Calling Card for Call of Duty: Warzone and Call of Duty: Black Ops 7
  • A Citron Whirl Town Portal for Diablo IV
  • A 1966 Toyota Sports 800 Fanta Edition for Forza Horizon 6
  • A Master Chief Fantastic Spartan Armor skin for Halo: Campaign Evolved

The Halo series has partnered with beverage brands before – most notably Mountain Dew for Halo 3, Halo 4, and Halo Infinite. However, this new Fanta-themed skin for the original Halo: Combat Evolved is unusual, and stands out as a strange choice for the game’s first promotional marketing campaign.

Unlike previous Halo games, Campaign Evolved will focus entirely on the story campaign and cooperative play with up to four players. It won’t include traditional player-versus-player (PvP) multiplayer modes.

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If Campaign Evolved had standard player-versus-player multiplayer, this Fanta-themed skin would make sense. However, since CE is only a campaign game, it’s worrying that Microsoft appears to be adding cosmetic skins and potentially other items you can buy within the game.

Throughout the main Halo games, players have never been able to customize Master Chief’s look during the campaign missions…

Throughout the main Halo games, players have never been able to customize Master Chief’s look during the campaign. Adding a brightly colored orange and blue armor feels out of place and disrupts the atmosphere of the original Battle of Installation 04.

As a big Halo fan, I’m a little worried about this new Fanta skin. While it might not cost much, it feels like Microsoft is testing the waters to see how much they can make from cosmetic items for Master Chief. I’m guessing we’ll see a lot more skins in the future that you have to buy with real money, instead of earning them through gameplay – which is what’s been happening a lot in Halo Infinite lately. It just feels like they’re prioritizing profit over rewarding players for their achievements.

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2026-03-31 18:39