Do I need an Xbox Live account to play Halo: The Master Chief Collection on PC?

What's Xbox Live and how does it work with Halo: MCC?

Xbox Live is Microsoft's online service that provides Xbox and Windows 10 players with a place to buy and play games, download apps, and more, all for free. If you want to play games online with other people on your Xbox One, then you'll need to traditionally purchase an Xbox Live Gold subscription for your Xbox Live account. However, this is not the case for Xbox Live games released on other platforms and services — you can play, for example, on your PC for free.

On PC, the Halo: Master Chief Collection (Halo: MCC) is launching on the Microsoft Store as well as Steam. As per the information on the Steam page for the game, it will require an Xbox Live account. Thankfully, players will not need Xbox Live Gold based on the above rule. All you'll have to do is connect a free Xbox Live account to your game, and you'll be good to go.

How can you create an Xbox Live account?

If you don't already have an Xbox Live account, then head on over to the Xbox Live website. There, you can either create a new Xbox Live account specifically or use a Microsoft account as an Xbox Live account (Microsoft accounts can be used to sign into Xbox Live since Microsoft has a shared ecosystem). Regardless of which method you choose, the process is quick and painless.

Why get Halo: The Master Chief Collection on PC?

Halo: MCC is the ultimate collection of most of the Halo shooter games from before the Xbox One-era, containing Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, Halo 3, Halo 4, as well as Halo 3: ODST's campaign, which is offered as DLC. All of these games are among the most successful titles in gaming history, so you'd be really missing out by never playing them. The Halo series is what put Xbox on the map, after all.

Based on what we know so far, each game in the PC version of Halo: MCC is going to be released slowly, one at a time. However, Halo: Reach will be added to both the PC and Xbox One versions of the game, and Reach will be the first title that comes out on PC.

While you'll have to wait for a quite a while before all of Halo: MCC is playable on PC, you should absolutely pick it up when it goes on sale on the Microsoft Store and on Steam. Of course, Halo: MCC is available right now for Xbox One, too, so if you're not a fan of PC controls, you have other options.