Halo: The Master Chief Collection and Microsoft Flight Sim might come to PS5 and Switch 2

Microsoft

Good morning and buckle up, folks: We’re leaping onto the rumor mill today. As more and more news about the Nintendo Switch 2 emerges as its anticipated announcement approaches, a video game podcaster named NateTheHate has claimed that both Halo: The Master Chief Collection and Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 are coming to the Switch 2 and PlayStation 5. NateTheHate has been correct numerous times in the past regarding upcoming games, but we encourage you to take this news with the proper amount of skepticism. The idea of an Xbox title on the Switch 2 is somewhat far-fetched, especially since we still have no clear picture of the console’s specs.

However, the Switch 2 might not need the onboard hardware to power titles like this. Xbox made an announcement in February 2024 to bring more of its games to PlayStation 5 and Nintendo, including Pentiment, Hi-Fi Rush, Sea of Thieves, and Grounded. The idea is that the Nintendo Switch 2 could work with cloud game streaming; by providing an interface, gamers could play titles through the cloud that the Switch would not be able to handle on its own. Considering the demanding specifications of Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, streaming is the only practical answer for how Nintendo’s portable console could handle the game.

Of course, not everything has panned out as expected. For example, Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 launched as an Xbox exclusive amid a wave of rumors that it would also come to the PlayStation 5. Xbox’s decisions are transforming the company into more of a publisher than a producer. Fans and critics alike have asked whether Xbox will continue to be a console or whether it will simply become a platform for cloud gaming, similar to Nvidia’s GeForce Now.

Xbox Game Studios
If Microsoft does bring these games to Nintendo and PlayStation consoles, the decision will benefit players and make these noteworthy titles all the more accessible. The Nintendo Switch 2 will be backward compatible with Switch games, although it isn’t clear whether that will be hardware-compatible (in other words, whether cartridges will work) or if it will only have digital backward compatibility. With more and more consoles taking a digital-only approach, it’s possible the next Xbox console — and, in turn, the Nintendo Switch 2 — could simply be a set-top streaming box versus something with a disc drive or cartridge slot.

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‘Halo 1.5’ gives modders a treasure trove of long-lost maps

Halo: The Master Chief Collection modders just got a huge gift. A post on the Halo Waypoint blog published Thursday details a ton of design artifacts that have been dug up and are now available to peruse.

The maps, assets, and design notes from the development period between Halo and Halo 2 — affectionately called Halo 1.5 — are a great insight into how Bungie was working on and experimenting with new features during this time period.

Nintendo confirms that Switch 2 and a June Direct are coming

Nintendo has finally confirmed two important things that people were speculating about. First off, we learned that another Nintendo Direct showcase will be taking place this June. More importantly, Nintendo finally confirmed that it is working on a Nintendo Switch successor and said we’d learn more about it within this fiscal year.

This all came from a statement by President Shuntaro Furukawa on Nintendo’s corporate X (formerly Twitter) account. “We will make an announcement about the successor to Nintendo Switch within this fiscal year. It will have been over nine years since we announced the existence of Nintendo Switch back in March 2015,” the post confirms. “We will be holding a Nintendo Direct this June regarding the Nintendo Switch software lineup for the latter half of 2024, but please be aware that there will be no mention of the Nintendo Switch successor during that presentation.”

Every upcoming video game console: Nintendo Switch 2, PS5 Pro and more

History would tell you that 2024 isn’t a year where you should expect a lot of new game consoles. We’re smack dab in the middle of a console generation and we’ve already seen the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series S get upgrades during it. A wave of brand new consoles is likely four years away if the precedent set by previous generations holds up.

And yet, we’re swimming in hardware rumors these days. Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo all have rumored systems in the works. On top of that, we’re on the verge of an early second generation for portable PCs like the Steam Deck. Companies like Lenovo and Asus are also plotting follow-ups to their own devices. It’s a lot to keep track of, with scattered reports sharing rumors about the status of each. To help you stay on top of the news, we’ve rounded up every major gaming device that’s currently in the works. You can expect to see some — if not all — of these in the next year.

Nintendo Switch 2

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