The original Halo Wars launched back in 2009, exclusively on Xbox 360. It was the last game put together by Ensemble Studios, famed for their line of medieval real-time strategy games — Age of Empires.
Halo Wars was simplified for use with a controller, sidestepping some of the complexity enjoyed by a full-blown keyboard and mouse RTS titles such as StarCraft. Still, it remains a wonderful effort to bring the genre to a potentially fresh audience, and Halo Wars 2 continues that legacy with some stellar gameplay, visuals, and depth.
The original Halo Wars recently got treated to a definitive edition, bringing mouse and keyboard controls to the game for the first time. It was available as an extra for Halo Wars 2's Ultimate Edition on Windows 10 Store and Xbox One, but now, it looks as though Steam PC users will get a taste of the action as well.
Owing to leaked screencaps (via CyberRakan, cheers!), it seems the original Halo Wars is making its way to Steam in the future. Our own sourcing gives us reason to believe this information is genuine. Expect to see Halo Wars on Steam in the near future.
The move to place Halo Wars on Steam shouldn't be too surprising. The game has likely done all the sales it can through Microsoft's own channels, given the availability of Halo Wars 2. Microsoft isn't a stranger when it comes to placing games on Steam, considering Age of Empires II HD still receives updates, and State of Decay also enjoys a dedicated fan base on the platform. A standalone version for Steam could indicate that Halo Wars DE will be getting separated from the Halo Wars 2 Ultimate Edition on the Microsoft stores as well.
It remains to be seen whether Microsoft will decide to bring across some of its more modern, heavy-hitting games such as Gears of War 4, Forza Horizon 3, or indeed, Halo Wars 2. But for Steam fans who might be interested in playing those games, this is certainly a positive sign.
As always with rumors of this type, take it with a pinch of salt until we get official confirmation. We're digging for more info in the meantime, but until then, let us know what you think in the comments.
