Microsoft and Halo Studios (formerly 343 Industries) have often been very positive with their approach to Halo community fan projects - be it mods, recognition of Forge creations and fan fiction. Today, they took another pro-community step by recognising the popular fan game, Spartan Survivors.
Spartan Survivors is a Halo-themed Vampire Survivors game that is entirely free. It is currently available via itch.io and is scheduled to come to Xbox, Steam and mobile devices later this year. We were incredibly lucky to have an exclusive GSC interview with one of the games developers, Juan Guillot Gonzalez recently.
There were concerns amongst the community that the game would get a cease and desist by Microsoft, as the game has been made without any IP approval. However, Halo Studios have now given their approval to the project and it will live on - subject to adding a legal disclaimer that will be added in the game's next update.
Announcing the news to X / Twitter, the developers shared a comment they'd received from Halo Studios: “Really love to see the passion you and your team have poured into this experience "” it really is fun and we look forward to getting further in our playthrough and unlocking more stuff.”
Speaking about what's next for Spartan Survivors, the developers have confirmed that the next update will bring more content to the game including UI improvements, a custom cursor for individual weapons, bosses and much more. Following this upcoming update, they will shift priorities to getting the game to Steam and mobile, then finally Xbox. The developers have already shared an image of the game working on Xbox so we know it's possible:
In an era when so many games release at very high price points, it's delightful to see that some developers simply love making games and are happy to offer them for free. When we asked Juan about why they didn't monetise the game, he shared this heartwarming answer: "The joy of creating! You know, not every hobby needs to be monetized, sometimes, the rewards from creating this kind of experience is purely the fact of collaborating with someone you appreciate, learning stuff along the way and seeing people having fun with what you created."
Spartan Survivors is available now for free on itch.io. The game will also be available on Steam and Xbox later this year. You can follow Spartan Survivors on Twitter/X and BlueSky for more updates on the game.
Have you had chance to check out Spartan Survivors? If so, drop your most OP builds in the comments below and stick with GSC for all your Halo news.
