Custom games have always been a key part of Halo multiplayer. Halo 2 saw fans create now beloved custom game modes like Infection and SWAT, and since then, other fan favorites like Grifball and much, much more have all been made possible using the franchise's Forge creation mode.
Thankfully, Halo 5's Forge mode and the possibilities it opens up for custom games is the best the franchise has ever seen. It feels like every week, there is some fantastic new Halo 5 Forge creation that is the talk of Reddit, as users have found ways to recreate Star Wars space battles, play beer pong and much, much more. Recently, a playlist of some of the community's best custom game types made its way into Halo 5 matchmaking, allowing an even wider audience to get in on the fun. Buckle your seatbelts, then, because Halo 5 custom games are about to get even better with the release of a custom game browser for both Windows 10 and Xbox One.
Confirmed by Halo franchise development director Frank O'Connor and 343 Industries studio head Josh Holmes, Forge for Windows 10 and Xbox One will have a custom game browser sometime in the near future. O'Connor, on gaming forum NeoGAF, recently wrote, "Once the custom game browser is available I think the community might get crazy legit."
Holmes, also in a post on NeoGAF, clarified.
"To be clear, it's a new feature that will provide similar functionality to a custom game browser, extending the existing file browser," Holmes wrote. "It's something we've been wanting to do for years and managed to get done as part of our ongoing support for the game."
Exactly how the feature will work is still a mystery. Is it simply a more efficient way to search for new custom game types, or will players be able to join custom games in progress hosted by other players, like the server browsers often seen in PC games? That's still unclear, but it is confirmed that the custom game browser won't be arriving with the launch of Halo 5: Forge for Windows 10 on Sept. 8. Halo 5: Forge on Windows 10 will, however, allow users to host and play Halo custom games, something that wasn't part of the mode's original announcement. Along with hosting and playing custom games, Forge on Windows 10 will also include 4K resolution support, mouse and keyboard controls and the ability upload creations to Xbox One.
