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Halo: The Master Chief Collection comes to Xbox Game Pass in September

Xbox One X enhancements and many more updates included

Samit Sarkar (he/him) is Polygon’s deputy managing editor. He has more than 15 years of experience covering video games, movies, television, and technology.

Halo: The Master Chief Collection, the Xbox One package of the first four Halo games, will join the Xbox Game Pass library on Sept. 1, publisher Microsoft Studios announced Tuesday during its Gamescom episode of Inside Xbox.

The Master Chief Collection’s Xbox Game Pass debut will coincide with the release of a massive, long-awaited update that will deliver a variety of fixes and new features to the game. First up on the list is visual upgrades for Xbox One X owners, including “up to” 4K resolution and HDR color, according to a new trailer that you can see above. Microsoft has not provided details on game-by-game support for those graphical features; we’ve asked the company for specifics, and we’ll update this article with any information we receive.

While The Master Chief Collection was an impressive bundle when it launched in November 2014, bringing Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, Halo 3 and Halo 4 to the Xbox One, severe network issues rendered the games’ multiplayer components nearly unplayable for weeks after launch. Bonnie Ross, head of developer 343 Industries, eventually issued a formal apology, and 343 later offered a free make-good to affected players: a remaster of Halo 3: ODST’s campaign.

When 343 announced plans for Xbox One X support back in October 2017, the company also said it was going under the hood with The Master Chief Collection “to help bring it forward and modernize many of the game’s systems to take advantage of Xbox platform advancements since its original launch.” The studio has spent months running tests with members of the Halo community in an effort to ensure that things are working properly. The September patch will be the result of all that effort, with updates including faster load times, improved matchmaking and support for offline LAN play.

The Master Chief Collection’s release on Xbox Game Pass is part of Microsoft’s continued focus on the subscription service. On Tuesday, the company also announced a beta for an Xbox Game Pass app on Android and iOS. The app will allow Game Pass subscribers to use a mobile device to browse the program’s catalog and initiate game downloads to their Xbox One console at home.

In addition, Microsoft is running a deal on Game Pass from Aug. 21-31: Interested parties can subscribe for $2 for the first month, and get a second month at no additional cost. The service, which offers a library of more than 100 full games, regularly costs $9.99 per month.

Update: All four games in The Master Chief Collection — as well as Halo 3: ODST, the free make-good for the package’s problems — will get a resolution bump and HDR support on Xbox One X, a Microsoft representative told Polygon.

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