So there we go. Just over two and a half years after Windows Phone launched with the Xbox Live branding in place, Microsoft have announced that one of the leading gaming franchises will be coming to mobile. Halo is coming to Windows Phone 8 in July.
Yes it’s a new Halo game (‘Halo: Spartan Assault’), and aficionados of the title will be aware where it fits in the historical gaming world (between Halo 3 and Halo 4). They will also be conscious that the first person perspective has been dropped completely, and Halo: Spartan Assault uses the the third-person perspective seen previously in the real time strategy title Halo Wars.

Pairing this view up with a simplified ‘dual virtual stick’ control system on the touch screens of Windows Phone might seem an obvious solution, but it is one that needs to be ‘just right’ when it launches in July.
But, and let’s not beat about the bush here. This is a new Halo game. Coming to Windows Phone (and Windows 8). The hardcore gamers out there with contract up for renewal are going to take a serious look at Windows Phone now (if they haven’t before). Halo lends Xbox Live on Windows Phone an air of respectability. It earns the handsets street cred.
And it finally shows the promise Microsoft have always had with the Xbox brand on Windows Mobile It’s taken far too long, but the franchises that can boost Windows Phone’s market share and unit sales are nearly here.