Following Rockstar Games’ confirmation that it will won’t include discs in the physical release of Grand Theft Auto 6, Microsoft has now started marketing Halo: Campaign Evolved by noting that its physical release will come with a disc. Through a social media post, the company presented a list of the game’s features that were revealed through a recently published Q&A, chief among them being the presence of physical discs.
The presence of the disc is the first fact addressed by the Q&A itself. “Yes! Buying the Xbox or PlayStation version of Halo: Campaign Evolved at your local retailer will result in getting the physical game case and disc so that you have tangible items to add to your collections,” it says.
The timing for this confirmation by Xbox and Halo Studios also comes shortly after Rockstar Games started facing some controversy for its decision to not include a disc with the physical release of Grand Theft Auto 6. While there were some rumors that a disc launch is planned for later, more recent reports indicate that there are no such plans in place.
Despite the criticism from fans, however, Circana’s Mat Piscatella even expressed the belief that the lack of an included disc won’t ultimately have any major effect on sales figures for the highly anticipated title. Among other factors, he pointed to the popularity of consoles without disc drives – the PS5 Digital Edition and the Xbox Series S.
The rest of the Q&A goes into detail about various other features of Halo: Campaign Evolved, like the Machinima mode. The mode will essentially allow players to start a free-floating camera that can then be controlled. In this mode, players can also lower their weapons to make it look like a real cutscene, while also maintaining full control of their character regardless of the camera’s position.
“Machinima mode is available to all players just by using input combos and does not need to be unlocked by finding a Skull,” explained Halo Studios. “If you’re looking to create great content, you can leverage Machinima mode, in combination with the Acrophobia & Blind Skulls, and even various personal settings such as disabling your HUD UI, to capture unique videos and screenshots.”
Interestingly, it looks like this Machinima mode is slated to be a replacement for what would have otherwise been a Photo mode. Halo Studios had previously confirmed that, rather than including a Photo mode by itself, such a mode’s features would instead be spread across the game through various skulls. The Blind Skull, for instance, can hide the HUD and UI. The Acrophobia skull, on the other hand, allows players to take flight.
The developer has also confirmed that Halo: Campaign Evolved will have full support for handheld systems. Halo Studios has noted that the title has the Handheld Optimized rating on Windows and the Verified rating on Steam Deck, both of which are the highest ratings on the respective operating systems and hardware.
Halo: Campaign Evolved is coming to PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S on July 28th.
