Play Original Halo in Your Browser Right Now

AI developer Mitchell Hynes has made the original Xbox version of Halo: Combat Evolved playable in a web browser, attracting nearly 20,000 games in just five hours.

Ever dreamed of playing the original Halo: Combat Evolved without digging out your old Xbox? Well, now you can—right in your browser.

AI developer Mitchell Hynes has released the original Xbox version of Halo: Combat Evolved as a browser game. And no, this isn't a port of Gearbox's divisive 2003 PC port—it's the actual Xbox game running in your browser. Hynes is hosting and maintaining it himself, and he made sure to clarify that this is the real deal for veteran fans.

The response has been massive. Five hours after release, the game saw nearly 20,000 games played, hitting an average of 94 frames per second. That's a lot of Spartans dropping into the ring.

But there's a catch: Microsoft owns Halo, and they might not be too happy about this. The company recently released Halo: Campaign Evolved on PC and consoles, so a free browser version could look like competition. Some even thought Microsoft had already taken action when Hynes' website was flagged as "Suspected Phishing." Hynes insisted it was just an automatic Cloudflare flag, not Microsoft, and the ban was lifted soon after.

This comes amid a massive AI video game explosion. People are using AI to mash up famous games, create "mods" faster than ever, and even clone existing titles. Some are releasing versions of traditional mods without permission—much to their creators' annoyance. For publishers, the impact could be existential: why buy a new Halo when AI can spit one out in minutes?

Just this week, the creator of a viral AI-generated Fallout: New York game pulled it offline after a cease and desist from Bethesda, and fans celebrated. So how long will Halo in your browser stay online? That's the big question.

Meanwhile, Microsoft has handed the next mainline Halo game to Call of Duty company Activision and gutted Halo Studios in the process. The future of Halo is changing, but for now, you can jump into the original in your browser.

Will you be giving it a try? Let us know in the comments!