Halo 5 won’t get any Xbox Series X optimizations, but it’s not all bad news

Halo 5
(Image credit: 343 Industries)

Sorry, Spartans: Halo 5 won’t receive any Xbox Series X optimizations such as higher framerates or ray tracing support, developer 343 Industries has confirmed.

In a post on Halo Waypoint, 343 Industries acknowledged that the studio has received countless questions on whether Halo 5 would receive the same sort of next-gen upgrades that were announced for Halo: The Master Chief Collection. Unfortunately, though, that won’t be the case.

You won’t find 120fps support or any new graphical flourishes when you boot up the game on Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S, but 343 does stress that Halo 5 will still benefit from “faster load times and consistently higher resolution gameplay” when running on Microsoft’s new consoles.

Halo 5 already supports up to 4K resolution after it was enhanced for Xbox One X, but fans of its multiplayer mode may have been hoping to benefit from faster framerates, and in turn, lower input latency. 

Halo 5: Guardians turns five on October 27. Anyone who logs in on this day will receive a free Greatest Hits Customization Pack, and the game is currently hosting a global double XP event throughout October. 

While it's been difficult to buy Xbox Series X pre-orders, fans will finally get their hands on the system on November 10. The cheaper albeit less powerful Xbox Series S will also launch on the same day. 

Not sold on Microsoft? Here's how you can buy PS5 at launch.

Adam Vjestica

Adam was formerly TRG's Hardware Editor. A law graduate with an exceptional track record in content creation and online engagement, Adam has penned scintillating copy for various technology sites and also established his very own award-nominated video games website. He’s previously worked at Nintendo of Europe as a Content Marketing Editor and once played Halo 5: Guardians for over 51 hours for charity. He is now an editor at The Shortcut.