Minority Mindset

Okay, so after Halo Studios officially revealed ‘Campaign Evolved,’ their community director, Brian Jarrard, came on stage at the Halo World Championships… and get this, he was wearing a PlayStation shirt! It was a pretty bold move considering he was just announcing that Halo games were going to be released on more platforms, including PlayStation. Definitely a statement!

Twitch quickly released a statement about the attack, but Emiru publicly disagreed with how the company described what happened. Additionally, people have criticized Dan Clancy for suggesting in an interview with Taylor Lorenz that creators are responsible for managing their viewers and preventing such incidents.

Earlier this month, The Verge reported that Xbox is preparing to test a new, ad-supported cloud gaming plan, with a wider release expected in the coming months. This news followed reports that Halo will be available on PlayStation, prompting The New York Times to confirm the new plan. According to their reporting, a Microsoft representative stated the company is internally testing free access to some games via the cloud, supported by advertisements, as a separate offering from Xbox Game Pass.

In several posts on X (formerly Twitter), Joseph Staten, a developer on Halo, expressed his disappointment with a part of the game’s trailer. He pointed out that the Warthog vehicle easily destroyed obstacles meant to make the battles with Hunters more challenging. “If you can just break through the crates, it ruins the fight,” he explained. He was particularly frustrated that trees were placed in the landing zone for the ‘WooHoo Jump,’ calling it a poor design choice.

In a recent interview with The New York Times, Xbox’s head of games, Matt Booty, explained the company is shifting its focus. He stated that Xbox is trying to reach players on the platforms they already use, which is why they’ve made Halo available on competing platforms. Booty emphasized that Xbox’s biggest challenge isn’t other gaming consoles, but rather competing for people’s attention with things like TikTok and movies.

I was so excited to hear Halo Studios announce Halo Fest at the Halo World Championship! They’re saying it’s going to be huge – big enough for twice as many people as the usual HWC crowd. It’s cool because Halo Fest has happened a few times before. I remember the first one back in 2010 – GameStop put it on to celebrate the launch of Halo Reach. Then there was another one at PAX Prime in 2011, and a standalone event in 2014. Hopefully, this one will be even better!

GameStop jokingly declared the end of the long-running rivalry between gaming consoles, often called “The Console Wars.” They trace the beginning of this competition back to 2001, when the game Halo: Combat Evolved was released exclusively for the Xbox. With Microsoft now planning to release a remastered version, Halo: Campaign Evolved, on PlayStation 5 in 2026, GameStop is playfully announcing that the “wars” are finally over.

Lehto described the game as visually stunning and remarkably faithful to the original Xbox version from 2001.

Bringing Halo to PlayStation will create larger player communities and show even more support for the game, benefiting both longtime fans and newcomers. “This is a great step forward for Halo’s future,” said Stein, adding green and blue heart emojis to represent Xbox and PlayStation.