Halo: Combat Evolved in a Web Browser

At the end of September 2026, developer Mitchell Hynes put the original Xbox Halo: Combat Evolved online as a version that runs in a web browser. It is built on two community decompilation projects of the Xbox game and is hosted on his own site. It covers the single-player campaign and online multiplayer with up to 128 players, and plays like a regular PC shooter with mouse and keyboard. The site itself does not ship any Halo game data – you supply that from your own copy of the game.

A desktop browser (reports say the campaign runs well in Google Chrome), a mouse and keyboard, and an XISO disc image made from your own original Xbox copy of Halo: Combat Evolved. On the start screen you upload that image; the game then runs locally in your browser. Without the disc image the game won't start – that is how the site stays clear of distributing Microsoft's game files.

Open the port, upload your XISO, then set your Spartan's name and armor color. For the campaign, start a new game as on the Xbox. For multiplayer, pick a map such as Blood Gulch or Battle Creek and a game mode, then share the invite link with friends – matches run peer-to-peer, so there is no matchmaking, only rooms you invite people to. Controls follow the original Xbox controller mapped to the keyboard: WASD to move, mouse to aim and shoot, Space to jump (the A button) and F for the B button; the full mapping is shown in the game.

Early coverage reported that the campaign closely matches the Xbox original while multiplayer was less reliable. The site briefly went offline on launch day after a traffic surge. The port is an unofficial fan project and its legal status is unclear – Microsoft sells Halo commercially and could object to it, so it may not stay online. Phones and gamepads were not listed as supported.