Halo: Reach PC Beta Begins In June; First Gameplay Footage Released

Halo: The Master Chief Collection's PC beta was supposed to begin in April, but that never happened. Now, developer 343 Industries says the beta should start in June, beginning with Halo: Reach.

People who join Microsoft's Halo Insider program will get to play first. The June date was confirmed in a livestream event where community director Brian Jarrard and other team members showed off live gameplay for one of Reach's missions.

Jarrard also revealed that 343 is bringing Halo: The Master Chief Collection to E3 2019 where attendees will be able to check out one mission from Halo: Reach, Tip of the Spear. The first beta test for Reach, or "flight," will arrive sometime before or after E3.

Jarrard said he's not happy with this scenario of bringing the game to E3 before the general public. Bringing Halo: The Master Chief Collection to E3 before the Insider beta process begins is "not ideal," he said. "We don't like that scenario."

The full livestream video is a great watch for fans looking for more information on how Halo: Reach will play on PC--go watch it here. In the video, developers talk about how they're working hard to ensure Halo: Reach (and the other titles within Halo: The Master Chief Collection) feels like a native PC game. They also discuss PC-specific features like button-mapping, the FOV slider, higher resolutions, and the new progression system.

Not only that, but 343 talked about how the team has no plans for split-screen or mods support for Halo: Reach on PC at launch, though these features could be added later if fans really want it. 343 also talked about how games within Halo: The Master Chief Collection will have anti-cheat measures.

In addition to this video, 343 has released a gargantuan, nearly 7,000-word blog post that covers these topics in more in huge depth--check it out here.

Halo: Reach is also coming to Xbox One, but 343 has not yet said when it'll be out. What we do know is that it will be tested first by Halo Insiders before rolling out to everyone.

You can sign up for the free Halo Insider program for a chance to get into the beta tests. The tests will start small before expanding to additional users over time.

In other Halo news, Microsoft is reportedly going to share more details on Halo Infinite at E3 2019 next month. For more, check out GameSpot's breakdown of what we know about Halo Infinite so far and what we want to see at E3 2019.