Next Halo 5 update brings a Content Browser and more to Xbox One

Michael Cottuli

Halo 5

One of the greatest things about Halo 5 has been the way that 343 Industries has been able to continuously support it, adding in new big features and fancy new weapons and armor just about every month. The staggered release of Forge and other anticipated features made it so that the Halo community just kept on coming back to enjoy what this latest installment had to offer. Many months after the game’s launch, this post-release support is still going strong – and the latest feature may be one of the most anticipated yet.

If you were around back during the glory days of Halo 3, you know very well the importance of the File Share. Long story short, this feature is coming to Halo 5 – and in a big way. The revival of the File Share has been dubbed the Content Browser, and it builds off of everything that made the Halo 3 feature so strong way back in the day.

For the uninitiated, let me bring you up to speed. When Halo 3 was at its peak and the community was going wild with Forge and Theater mode, it was necessary to have a way to share all of your creations with the rest of the world. The File Share was the Halo 3 player’s way to express his or herself to the rest of the world, providing a precious space in which you could upload your favorite maps, clips, photos, and more to your virtual trophy shelf. Come across a game mode that you particularly loved playing? Make a cool map in Forge? Take a clip of a once-in-a-lifetime killtacular? Throw it up on the File Share and let the world bask in your glory.

This feature has been woefully missing from later installments of Halo, most notably Halo 5, which has gone above and beyond the call of duty to make some truly exceptional content creating tools for the community. This new Content Browser doubles down on what the File Share accomplished back during the Halo 3 days, not only letting people upload clips, maps, and game modes, but also letting people upload specific groups of objects from Forge. If you make a cool contraption that you think other people would be able to use in their Forge maps, you can now go ahead and upload that as a Forge Object Group for other people to use.

This feature has been a long time coming, and it offers a very necessary social element to a game whose survival depends on its ability to inspire its player base to keep creating interesting content. If that isn’t enough, the update is also going to be accompanied by plenty of new REQs, new maps (teased by 343 as “new places to play”), and more.

You can check out the community update to get some more details, along with more information regarding projects like Halo: Mythos. It’s never been a better time to be a Halo fan, and the team at 343 is very keen on making sure that you’ve got plenty of new content in the pipeline. Keep an eye out for more new stuff!