Halo CE for switch

NDSAK2 · Oct 3, 2026

Built by @thelinkin3000

Features
-single player campaign
-online multiplayer & co-op
-custom PC map support
-voice chat with wired headsets
-deko3d renderer with shader cache
-auto-update from GitHub
-60 fps for singleplayer & mp *¹

It's still in testing, so ymmv. Maps take a moment to load, and it may lag at checkpoints if other SD IO is happening.

Requires a Halo CE Xbox iso in the switch/halo folder, or the maps folder copied from the PC version of the decomp (not Halo PC). If you supply the ISO it will take a few minutes to extract the maps, be patient

Custom single player & multiplayer maps are playable. Create a custom_maps folder beside the halo.nro, and put your PC Halo maps there.

Downloads on GitHub
https://github.com/thelinkin3000/halo-ce-universal/releases

Gameplay Vids

Multiplayer

Online co-op

*¹ (this is limited by game size somewhat. Multiplayer up to ~48 players runs well & co-op games are highly dependent on the host machine)

PrincessKeba · Oct 3, 2026

When I run it with pre-extracted maps or a .xiso it leads to a selection menu. Campaign just causes the app to close. Can't get in-game at all.

NDSAK2 · Oct 3, 2026

PrincessKeba said:
When I run it with pre-extracted maps or a .xiso it leads to a selection menu. Campaign just causes the app to close. Can't get in-game at all.

The dev is active in the open-ce discord @thelinkin3000, the invite is linked in his GitHub. He would like more Switch testers, if you're into that sort of thing, I think I'm the only one at the moment. He indicated he would be working further on the port this weekend.

The only thing I can think of is to make sure the folder is '/switch/halo' exactly, I initially had it named something else that lead to crashes.

CoolioOnSwitch · Oct 3, 2026

PrincessKeba said:
When I run it with pre-extracted maps or a .xiso it leads to a selection menu. Campaign just causes the app to close. Can't get in-game at all.

make sure adress space is 36bit and cpu cores is 3 (default), make sure ur iso is in the folder, rename halo release folder to just halo, and if the maps are not extracting extract it yourself and place the folder in "halo" folder; these are the main reasons i found it would crash

UsernamesAreWeird · Oct 3, 2026

Does it matter if I use version 1.0, 1.1 or 1.2 of the game?

NDSAK2 · Oct 3, 2026

UsernamesAreWeird said:
Does it matter if I use version 1.0, 1.1 or 1.2 of the game?

AFAIK any Xbox Halo CE iso should work, PAL or NTSC. The initial extraction takes a while on the Switch, so I'd personally recommend preparing the maps using a PC version, then copying the maps folder to your SD card .

PrincessKeba · Oct 3, 2026

CoolioOnSwitch said:
make sure adress space is 36bit and cpu cores is 3 (default), make sure ur iso is in the folder, rename halo release folder to just halo, and if the maps are not extracting extract it yourself and place the folder in "halo" folder; these are the main reasons i found it would crash

I'm new to switch modding but I've never heard of adjusting address space or cores in this context. Where do I do that? I've tried using the extracted maps with the same result, like it can't see them. folders are named exactly according to their readme.

NDSAK2 · Oct 3, 2026

PrincessKeba said:
I'm new to switch modding but I've never heard of adjusting address space or cores in this context. Where do I do that? I've tried using the extracted maps with the same result, like it can't see them. folders are named exactly according to their readme.

The address space & cores are options when making a menu forwarder with sphaira. In not sure why it's failing. Are you on the latest update build 39? Any build after 38 will give you the option to auto update now.

PrincessKeba · Oct 3, 2026

NDSAK2 said:
The dev is active in the open-ce discord @thelinkin3000, the invite is linked in his GitHub. He would like more Switch testers, if you're into that sort of thing, I think I'm the only one at the moment. He indicated he would be working further on the port this weekend.

The only thing I can think of is to make sure the folder is '/switch/halo' exactly, I initially had it named something else that lead to crashes.

I've joined and I @ them

Post automatically merged: Oct 3, 2026

NDSAK2 said:
The address space & cores are options when making a menu forwarder with sphaira. In not sure why it's failing. Are you on the latest update build 39? Any build after 38 will give you the option to auto update now.

I'm on Build 39 with the same results and I don't get it.

UsernamesAreWeird · Oct 3, 2026

NDSAK2 said:
AFAIK any Xbox Halo CE iso should work, PAL or NTSC. The initial extraction takes a while on the Switch, so I'd personally recommend preparing the maps using a PC version, then copying the maps folder to your SD card .

Ok, got it

Thank ye

(The iso is also bigger than 4GB and my SD is formatted to FAT32 so extraction is required either way heh heh)

NDSAK2 · Monday at 7:37 AM

The latest Halo CE update features some nice changes.

- auto update
- deko3d renderer
- shader cache
- online server browser

Optimization is still ongoing. For single player there is still a long load time between levels with no user feedback, though the lag during checkpoints is much better. MP runs pretty well with player counts under ~24.

Post automatically merged: Tuesday at 2:42 AM

Online multiplayer co-op is a go! Performance has seen a big boost, this was with 16 players in the lobby.

Zerus · Wednesday at 1:37 PM

Can someone tag me when local co op works at a stable framerate

thelinkin3000 · Friday at 12:34 PM

Zerus said:
Can someone tag me when local co op works at a stable framerate

We made improvements on the way shaders are stored and loaded from the sd card.
While I haven't had the chance to take a look into split screen campaign fps, wanna give it a go?

A Switch lite now handles slayer multiplayer matches as well or better than the steam deck in our quick tests.

NDSAK2 · Friday at 8:19 PM

HUGE performance improvement to MP.

16 player Co-op

Post automatically merged: Friday at 8:20 PM

Zerus said:
Can someone tag me when local co op works at a stable framerate

Get in there on the latest build!

pzelic · 2026-10-10T13:53:09+0100

Damn this is sick, runs awesome and had a game of multiplayer online is sweet. Man bring me left for dead 2 and ill lose my mind

Cowboi · 2026-10-10T19:14:46+0100

does campaign work on two player? the first player screen is glitched

NDSAK2 · 2026-10-11T06:19:41+0100

Cowboi said:
does campaign work on two player? the first player screen is glitched

The dev is looking at it, should be patched up soon

BigBro030 · 2026-10-11T17:08:37+0100

wow, i am really impressed. i had the og xbox and i still have the gamedisc in my bedroom.. golden times, brothers and sisters.. golden times that we are living in..

until teh holy AI will all eat us alive haha

fatherjack · 2026-10-11T17:36:54+0100

does this need OC or does it run on stock speeds?

Halo CE for switch

Active Member

Member

Active Member

Active Member

Well-Known Member

Active Member

Member

Active Member

Member

Well-Known Member

Active Member

Attachments

Active Member

New Member

Active Member

Member

New Member

Active Member

Member

Well-Known Member

Similar threads

Popular threads in this forum