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Halo: Campaign Evolved isn't just a ground-up remake of one of the most formative first-person shooters of all time, it's also an expansion of an iconic story with a separate prequel story titled Operation: Meteorite, and Halo Studios brought in an award-winning sci-fi author to make sure it lives up to the name.
During today's Xbox Showcase 2026 for Summer Game Fest, some footage was shown of Operation: Meteorite's new prequel missions, which will send the Chief and Sgt. Johnson across enemy lines onto a Covenant research vessel for the UNSC and into some sweet looking space combat. "What starts as a simple smash and grab turns more complicated as they encounter more than they bargained for," says community director Brian Jarrard of the three new missions in an Xbox Wire post.
It's natural to be wary of a new team adding chunky narrative elements to such a beloved story, especially when original Halo developer Bungie has long, long moved on, but if anyone's up to the task, it would be NYT bestselling sci-fi author Troy Denning. Denning has written dozens of acclaimed novels going back to the '80s including almost 30 D&D novels, more than a dozen books in the Star Wars expanded universe, and most importantly here, some of the best Halo tie-in novels out there. From 2015 to 2023, Denning wrote the Halo novels Last Light, Retribution, Silent Storm, Oblivion, Shadows of Reach, Divine Wind, and Outcasts.
Jarrard says Denning's "work has helped shape some of the most memorable corners of the Halo universe across multiple acclaimed novels," and that "his involvement helped us ground Operation: METEORITE in the tone, stakes, and military sci-fi texture that players expect from Halo." Basically, they brought in the big guns for these prequel missions, guys, so don't worry.
Halo: Campaign Evolved launches July 28 for PC, Xbox Series X, Game Pass, and PS5.
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