Halo: Campaign Evolved's early access Xbox players are locked out by technical issues - Windows Central

What the report says

Windows Central reported that the early-access launch of Halo: Campaign Evolved was disrupted by technical problems affecting some players who bought the game’s Premium Edition or Premium Edition Upgrade through Xbox Series X|S or the Xbox app on PC. The issue emerged on July 23, 2026, when the remake was supposed to become playable for customers who paid for the higher-tier access ahead of the wider release.

According to the report, Halo Studios’ support account acknowledged on X that it was investigating complaints from players on Xbox consoles and the Xbox app for PC who could not open the game despite purchasing the eligible edition. Windows Central noted that the Premium option was not included through Xbox Game Pass and was listed at $69.99, with one of its advertised benefits being up to five days of early access.

The article was later updated to say that, after a separate Xbox Live outage was resolved, Halo Studios said it had addressed the Halo early-access problem. However, Windows Central also reported that many users were still replying that they remained locked out. The studio advised affected players to power cycle their Xbox console or, on Windows PC, run “wsreset” from the Start menu to clear the Microsoft Store cache.

The incident matters because Halo is one of Xbox’s most prominent franchises, and paid early access has become a common incentive in premium game editions. Windows Central framed the disruption as especially frustrating for customers who paid extra specifically to play before the standard launch window.