The definitive edition of the original Halo Wars releases in early access today, but only for players who have pre-ordered the ultimate edition of Halo Wars 2. Microsoft are handing out codes in waves, with some apparent inconsistency in delivery times.

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“Anyone who pre-ordered by December 14 should receive [a code] today, so keep an eye out”, wrote Dan Ayoub, head of strategy games development, on Microsoft’s news blog yesterday. “If you don’t receive your code today, don’t worry! Codes are rolling out through the coming weeks”.

That it’ll be a matter ofweeksis a little alarming. On the Definitive Edition Microsoft Store page, a more precise figure of seven to ten days is offered.

It’s all had an at best mixed reception on the Halo Wars subreddit, mainly but by no means exclusively on t10dimensional’s thread about code deliveries. Manyusers are complaining they haven’t received a code despite pre-ordering on time, others complain of error messages when they try to redeem their code, and there’s widespread confusion about why Microsoft can’t simply make the game available for download rather than relying on codes in the first place, much less on a staggered release schedule.

Unikraken’s thread for the compilation of bugs has also attracted one or two noteworthy posts. EvilLemon23 says the PC version constantly resets into windowed mode at launch and that he is “stuck at single-digit frames per second”.

Halo Wars: Definitive Edition boasts improved graphics, new achievements and all the DLC from the first game. For now, it’s only available as part of theHalo Wars 2 Ultimate Editionbundle. As an Xbox Play Anywhere title, Halo Wars: Definitive Edition is available on both Xbox One and Windows 10 PC, and buying it on one platform unlocks it on the other. Halo Wars 2 will also support Play Anywhere.

If you’re eligible for a code and have any questions about where to find or how to redeem your code, check Microsoft’s FAQ here. If you’re getting errors when you try to activate your code, some have had success withthis fix.

Any readers trying to get in to Halo Wars: Definitive Edition? How’s it going?