Halo may have been conspicuously absent at Microsoft’s E3 presentation this year, but that doesn’t mean we won’t be seeing the software giant’s biggest game franchise on Xbox One X this holiday season. That’s right, Halo 5: Guardians is getting a 4K makeover.

“The team here at 343 always had a desire to bring players the best Halo 5 experience for Xbox One X, but we weren’t quite ready to make the announcement during the E3 time frame,” a 343 Industries post on the official Halo site notes. “Today we are excited to officially confirm that Halo 5 will receive a game update to support true 4K with the release of Xbox One X later this year! We’ll have more to share on this front as we get closer to release, so stay tuned.”

In other words, that’s all we know: Halo 5 will not be remastered or re-released for Xbox One X. Instead the existing game will simply be updated to support 4K graphics on Xbox One X only. So you could buy the game now and start playing, and potentially finish it (or replay it) in 4K later. I’m curious how the multiplayer experience will be improved. Perhaps true 1080p?

Also, Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST, Halo 4, and Halo: CE Anniversary for Xbox 360 are all coming to Xbox Backward Compatibility. Each will include campaign and multiplayer modes, and will support LAN play between Xbox One and Xbox 360. And even better, every Xbox 360 Halo add-on map pack in the Xbox Store will be made available for free once these games are in Backward Compatibility.

Tagged with Halo, Halo 5: Guardians