Halo Finally Returns With An Unexpected Prequel

Halo is one of those series that cannot be stopped. It can stumble, or even fall, but it’ll never stop, even if we’re just seeing Master Chief birthday party merchandise decades from now. It’s cemented itself in the zeitgeist, and despite slowing the development of mainline games, the Master Chief helmet is a major fixture of the XBOX brand.

Recently, Master Chief hasn’t been doing much. Halo Infinite kicked off in 2021 and recently wound down live content operations, while Halo: Campaign Evolved (a remake of the original) is set to arrive later this year. No further mainline entries have been confirmed or revealed yet, as fans wait to see what’s next.

Strangely, it seems like a Halo prequel has shown up in the most unlikely of places, but it’ll take a bit of work to get it online (via Windows Central).

Set around the time of Halo: Combat Evolved (the first game in the series), Halo: Fireteam Raven was originally released in arcades as a standalone Halo game. Now, it’s available to play on PC, albeit through emulation and a lot of work. The Halo community has seemingly gotten its hands on the ROM for the arcade game, and it’s playable on the TeknoParrot platform.

Developed by Raw Thrills and Play Mechanix (along with help from Halo stewards 343 Industries), Fireteam Raven allows multiplayer players to drop in as ODTS soldiers and take on classic Halo enemies. All of this was originally delivered through a 55″ 4K screen for two players, and follows a parallel story to Master Chief’s exploits. You wouldn’t completely relive the adventures of the first game, as it was essentially an alternate take on what happened.

Microsoft expanded the rollout to a 130-inch screen that supports four players, with Gamertag linking and stats. All of this would fit perfectly with modern XBOX consoles. If you’re in the US, you’d typically see these at Dave & Buster locations. Clocking in at 1503 pounds for the two-player model alone, it’s quite a commitment if you’re looking to pick up an actual cabinet.

Ideally, Microsoft and the XBOX team bring Halo: Fireteam Raven to more platforms. As these Fireteam Raven arcade machines phase out in favor of newer experiences, they’ll be relegated to time and a few wealthy benefactors’ basements.

The Halo series is already tough to keep up with in 2026, given all the spinoffs, platform exclusives, and novels to sift through. Maybe one day Microsoft will reign in the continuity and bring things back to basics.