Fan-made video games based on popular franchises always run the risk of having the official rights-holder step in and shut things down, but that’s not happening with Spartan Survivors.

The community-developed game, which has players fighting hordes of Covenant and Flood enemies as Master Chief or the Arbiter, has been given an official blessing from Microsoft. The developers said Microsoft reached out to them to say they “really love to see the passion” from the team. People at Microsoft apparently played the game as well. “It really is fun and we look forward to getting further in our playthrough and unlocking more stuff,” the Halo representative said.

Microsoft, did, however, have one specific request for the developers. Microsoft reportedly asked the team to add language to the legal disclaimer in the game’s credits and on store pages to make it ultra-clear that the project is not an official Halo game or made in partnership with Halo Studios.

This language will be added in the next update to Spartan Survivors. “We want to thank Halo Studios and Microsoft for their real sympathy toward us,” the studio said.

You can download Spartan Survivors today on itch.io for free. The game’s store page mentions that it’s also coming to Xbox and Steam in 2025, but as of yet, it’s unclear when that might happen. The announcement trailer can be seen above, containing the outdated language mentioning a 2024 release.

Microsoft is moving ahead with its own new Halo games, which are in the works at the newly rebranded Halo Studios and will run on Unreal Engine 5. Many are expecting some kind of big Halo release in 2026 for the franchise’s 25th anniversary, but as of yet, we don’t know what that could be.