When Microsoft announced the Windows 10-based map-making tool Forge—Halo 5: Guardians Edition back in May, we briefly dared hope that the full Halo 5 was finally coming to the PC. Alas, it was quickly made clear that it's only the map editor, although crucially it does enable online play with other PC players. That spot of confusion may be why the name has apparently changed slightly: Microsoft is now calling it Halo 5: Forge, and it's set to go live on September 8.

“Halo 5: Forge brings the entire Forge level-creation experience from Halo 5: Guardians to Windows 10, with support for mouse and keyboard for highly refined object placement and manipulation, higher-resolution displays (including 4k) for stunning graphic fidelity, the ability to host and play custom matches for up to 16 players, and a new content browser that spans platforms,” Microsoft said on the Xbox Wire. “Creators will be able to download levels from the Forge community created on both Windows 10 PC and Xbox One, which they can then customize, or create their own from scratch. Halo 5: Forge opens the door to new possibilities in Halo 5: Guardians and beyond.”

It remains tremendously disappointing that the full Halo 5 experience remains out of our reach, but it's hard to complain too much about 16-player online combat across a potentially huge variety of environments, especially given that the whole thing is free. System requirements and other such details haven't been announced yet, but will presumably come to light when Halo 5: Forge appears on the Windows Store.

