A new report from Tom Warren of The Verge is making a big claim: Microsoft are not only working on a fresh remaster of the original Halo: Combat Evolved, but they are also considering bringing it to PlayStation.

Tom Warren makes these claims in the latest issue of The Notepad, which is locked behind a paywall. In it, he seems to believe a new remaster of the original Halo is coming, despite it already getting remastered in The Master Chief Collection. He stops short of saying it will make the jump to PlayStation though, simply stating that Microsoft is considering it.

Warren goes on to say that Microsoft isn’t going full multiplatform and does still plan on having some exclusives. For example, Warren states that the next Gears of War game, which is likely going to be shown at the Xbox Games Showcase next week, is not being considered for PlayStation. The same can be said of Fable and South of Midnight.

The likes of Hellblade 2, Age of Empires and Starfield are currently being considered for PlayStation though.

Meanwhille, the new Doom game, believed to be called Doom: The Dark Ages, will be coming to PS5 on day one when it launches in 2025. This makes sense as Xbox previously said franchises with a multiplatform legacy would continue on those platforms.

Jez Corden of Windows Central backs up some of Warren’s claims. On Windows Central he confirms that “In my investigations, I can confirm that games like Age of Mythology Retold, Avowed, South of Midnight, Hellblade 2, and even Starfield (at least as of June 2024) are, right now, not in active development for PlayStation, despite being perhaps “considered” in meetings and discussions. Does that mean never? Maybe, maybe not? I’m not sure Microsoft has nailed down the answers themselves yet to some of these questions, and The Verge report certainly doesn’t suggest they have, despite how some have framed it.”

But Tom Warren’s report has drawn the ire of a senior designer at Xbox going by the title Delilah HD on X/Twitter. I can’t confirm if this person does indeed work for Microsoft, but the account is followed by numerous high-ranking Xbox officials.

She posted several tweets after Warren’s report went live that would appear to be aimed at the author, though the account never actually names him.

Don't believe everything you read… Stop falling for the grift and engagement bait. 💚 #Noleaks

— Delilah HD (@Delilah_HD) June 6, 2024

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

The first tweet reads:  “Don’t believe everything you read… Stop falling for the grift and engagement bait.”

That’s followed by Tweets saying “I consider him irresponsible” and “Conveniently behind a paywall isn’t it.”

Generally speaking, Warren has proven to be a reasonably reliable source of inside information, but as always these kinds of reports should be taken with a shovelful of salt. Warren is smart enough to keep his language vague and somewhat noncommittal, and, of course, things that are true one day can be false the next if plans change.

Halo landing on PlayStation would have been unmanageable just a year or two ago, but these days it’s actually quite believable that Xbox’s most iconic character could appear on Sony’s machine. I can’t help but feel though, that if the Master Chief does storm the beaches of PlayStation, it truly would spell the end of the Xbox brand as we know it.