HAlo series developer 343 Industries has announced a new, free-to-play PC game called Halo Online, which launched in closed beta this spring. Unfortunately it's only coming to Russia. The game will be multiplayer only and is based on a highly modified version of Halo 3 that's designed to work on low-end PCs. The game will have an in-game economy, though it's not clear what kind of purchases players will be able to make. The game will be set"on a secret UNSC space installation called Anvil, where Spartan-IV soldiers train together in war exercises to sharpen their battle skills and test experimental technology. There are currently no plans to bring the game to the Xbox 360 or Xbox One, and 343 isn't saying anything about releasing the game in other countries. However despite that a loader called ElDorito has been under development which allows anyone to load and mess about with Halo Online. Unfortunately at the moment LAN and Internet play is not currently possible, however i'd say its only a matter of time. Anyone old enough to remember the beta of Halo for PC which leaked way back in 2003 ish will remember that was hacked to play over the internet. Ive had a play about with the beta using the El Dorito loader and it pretty much seems like Halo 3 multiplayer with some new maps, however on the PC capable of running up to 1080p, 60fps.
I looked at the date of the original article, and it's not 1 april. So it looks to be a real experiment on the Russians this time around.
It is real, you can play the beta on your PC! Just very strange this is for Russia only and unexpected! this literally came out of no where. PC gamers have been asking for another Halo game for years.