Halo 5: Guardians has remained exclusive to Microsoft Xbox gaming systems since launching back in October 2015, during the Xbox One era—an approaching ten-year anniversary has fans wishing for a possible port over to PC platforms. Hopes were elevated late last week due to an intriguing image popping up on Lenovo's Legion Go S product page. A certain promo image depicts screen content featuring a Steam menu session with an entry for Halo 5. This discovery (courtesy of Rebs Gaming) prompted much online chatter about the possible PC port being unveiled at the next Xbox Developer_Direct—scheduled for broadcast on January 23.

343 Industries (now Halo Studios) has ported five titles over to PC—neatly compiled in the form of Halo: Master Chief Collection—but the absence of Guardians has been a lingering sore spot. Over the past weekend, Lenovo senior community manager—Ben Green—dampened expectations. In a curt response to a query (on social media) regarding the alleged leak, he shot down the notion that Lenovo had inadvertently leaked the existence of a Halo 5: Guardians PC port. It is possible that Lenovo's marketing department had mocked-up the image in error. Microsoft's gaming division has committed to spreading its most visible IPs to "rival" platforms, so the upcoming Xbox Developer_Direct could harbor a surprise or two.

After continuously testing its Project xCloud streaming gaming service in an internal group, Microsoft is now looking to expand its testing of the service for a broader audience. This will be done via a Beta launch of the service, available at first only for residents in the US and UK (click here, and (South) Korea (click here). The idea is to stress-test the service, since according to Microsoft, "It's time to put Project xCloud to the test in a broader capacity, with a range of gamers, devices, network environments and real-world use-case scenarios, and this is where you come in." There is no end in sight for the Beta: Microsoft wants it to last "until customers are consistently reporting a great, fun experience and the technology meets our internal quality standards."

The only thing that's needed to participate is a Bluetooth Xbox One controller that you can connect to whatever device you want, be it a smartphone, tablet, or other streaming-capable device. The idea here is to test the xCloud service in as broad hardware and network configurations as possible, and it's a Beta, so remember to cool your expectations adequately. You won't be able to play games that are already connected to your account - Microsoft offers a curated selection of titles that includes (for the time being) Halo 5: Guardians, Gears 5, Killer Instinct, and Sea of Thieves.

A box listing update for 343 Industries' Halo 5: Guardians over the weekend may have spilled the beans on a planned release of the title for PC gamers. Via an updated box art posted on Amazon, the new Halo 5: Guardians changes the previous "Only on XBOX One" adage of games that could only be found on Microsoft's console - and nowhere else - to a much more interesting "XBOX One Console Exclusive". This particular wording has become prevalent ever since Microsoft introduced its "XBOX Play Anywhere" initiative, which sees copies of games being mirrored in both the PC and console platforms - much like it happened on Halo Wars 2.

If this were to happen, of course, we'd expect nothing less that a very well optimized port for the PC version of the game. Microsoft hasn't been saving expenses in gearing up their Play Anywhere titles up to the best features and performance metrics PC gaming has to offer, and with a Halo game, those efforts are sure to be doubled. The franchise still remains Microsoft's juggernaut and best representative of their overall brand identity, and Microsoft - and 343 Industries - wouldn't want to be missing an opportunity to prepare a whole new world of potential gamers and buyers of Halo: Infinite via a less than exquisite launch of Halo 5: guardians on PC. Until then, you can always just hop into the free Forge mode on Windows 10.

Microsoft has announced that a Windows UWP app will soon enable your PC to become a local server for your Halo 5: Guardians local LAN parties. this announcement comes ahead of its November 2nd release of the "Overtime" content and fix drop for Halo 5: Guardians that brings with it a plethora of fixes and 4K support for its latest XBOX One X console.

Dubbed the "Halo 5: Guardians Local Server" app, the piece of software will be available for download through the Windows store, turning your computer into a local server so XBOX One consoles in the same network can experience "easy, low-latency Halo 5: Guardians multiplayer matches." The app will also bring support for custom games loading on your server, including those created on your PC through Halo 5: Forge, which arrived on Windows 10 PCs last year. The Local Server app "provides a method for tournament organizers to set up their own events in a scenario that mirrors the environment used for professional matches. With these new options, you can create a local server similar to those used for the Halo Championship Series events, providing an ideal proving ground for everything from professional and amateur competitive teams to friendly tournaments."