When Microsoft and 343 Industries announced the Halo 5: Guardians collector’s edition, fans were a bit confused. All of the regular trappings are there, including a Steelbook case, statue, in-universe documents, and more. But one thing was missing: a disc.

Microsoft and 343 have heard fan concerns and are working out a way to make things better. While details aren’t yet available, the duo assure us that there will be a way for interested parties to get a free disc copy in exchange for the digital one.

“The Limited Collector’s Edition will be released on October 20th – a week prior to the official launch date of October 27th for Halo 5: Guardians – and therefore we are including a digital copy of the game so fans will have the benefit of pre-downloading to be ready to play on launch day,” a Microsoft representative told us via email. “We have heard feedback that some fans prefer a physical disc in the LCE, and we will provide an option for fans to exchange their digital copy for a physical disc at no additional cost. We’ll have details to share soon.”

We’ll be sure to update you once that process is fully detailed. For now, those who consider a disc as part of the collector’s edition can rest easy. For more on Halo 5: Guardians, you can read our coverage from the July 2015 issue.





Our Take

This is probably going to be tricky to execute, but it’s a great show of community service. Kudos to Microsoft and 343 Industries for responding like this.