343 Industries has broken the inevitable but no less heartbreaking news that Halo 5: Guardians will not be joining its fellow Halo games inside Halo: The Master Chief Collection. The developer has never announced that the 2015 release would be included inside the package, but the constant additions to the Halo compilation certainly made it seem like a slim possibility. Beyond the original quartet of included titles (and an updated version of Halo 2's campaign), the game has added on both Halo 3: ODST and Halo: Reach as well as grafting on cosmetic upgrades to older games via a battle pass system.
While there is a team working on The Master Chief Collection at the moment, 343 Industries likely doesn't have the headspace to dedicate to yet another huge expansion of the game. Xbox Series X is launching without its premier launch title Halo Infinite, and the developers are all hands on deck on that project. The game, which takes the franchise to an open world Halo ring for the first time, was delayed into 2021 following a gameplay reveal that left a good chunk of the audience unimpressed. This is despite the fact that Master Chief is all over the marketing of the console, even featuring on the back of the retail packaging.
In the latest Halo Community Update on Halo Waypoint, 343 Industries immediately dashes hopes of Halo 5 making the jump to The Master Chief Collection. Instead, the upcoming tests for Halo 4's first-ever PC release will be the last tests needed, as Master Chief Collection will feature the same content across all platforms following that release. The update also includes matchmaking playlist updates for both The Master Chief Collection and Halo 5, as well as another look at the fabled GRD Spartan Helmet that's finally coming to Halo: Reach later this month.
To be fair to 343 Industries, Halo 5: Guardians is likely the most expansive Halo game to date. An arsenal of over 100 weapon variants and the massively multiplayer Warzone mode would make integrating the game into the collection's existing framework a cumbersome endeavor. It also wouldn't make much sense considering the original intent of the collection was to bring the games from the first two generations of Xbox forward into a modern package. With Xbox Series X inherently supporting Xbox One titles, Halo 5: Guardians will remain playable for the entire next cycle, as will the rest of Halo's history thanks to The Master Chief Collection.
Truth be told, it would be amazing to have a single hub for all things Halo on Xbox Series X. Still, Halo Infinite is (hopefully) on the horizon, which would once again break apart the Halo experience if such a hub were to exist. This is especially true since Infinite has a free to play multiplayer mode that will be available separately from the campaign. While it is not coming to the MCC, here's hoping that Halo 5: Guardians does eventually get a full PC release outside the collection. The game is one of the best across the franchise, and it deserves to be played by fans no matter what platforms they happen to own.
Halo: The Master Chief Collection is available now on Xbox One and PC.
Source: Halo Waypoint